• Baylor equestrian claims first Big 12 title

    Baylor equestrian - 2010 Big 12 championsWe’ve been so caught up with basketball the last couple of weeks that another athletic accomplishment nearly slipped by. Last week the Baylor equestrian team claimed its first Big 12 Championship! (See photos from the event here.)

    Ranked sixth in the nation, head coach Ellen White’s team upset third-ranked Texas A&M on the final day to win the first league title in just the program’s fifth season. The Bears’ next action will come April 15-17, as for the fourth year in a row Baylor hosts the Varsity Equestrian National Championships at the Heart O’ Texas Coliseum.

    Equestrian, Baylor’s 18th varsity athletic program, is classified as an “NCAA emerging sport.” The sport is over halfway to the number of participating universities that it needs to become a full NCAA sport and hold an NCAA equestrian championship. The Big 12 features more participating schools than any other conference, as the Lady Bears face Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M each season; the list of other schools offering varsity equestrian programs includes Auburn, Fresno State, Georgia, South Carolina, SMU and TCU.

    Sic ’em, Baylor equestrian!