TCU equestrian began in 2006 with 18 student-athletes. With 43 riders for the 2017-18 season, the program has the second-largest team on campus, behind football which has about 120 players.

Even with a sports schedule that stretches from August to April, equestrian student-athletes accumulated numerous scholastic distinctions for the 2016-17 season.

Jayme Omand competes in Equitation on the Flat at round 1 of the Big 12 Championship in Waco, Texas. Photo by Glen E. Ellman

• 11 earned National Collegiate Equestrian Association academic honors.
• Two were named to the NCEA All-America teams.
• Six were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Equestrian Team.
• Six were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team, an honor reserved for freshmen.

Two received Most Outstanding Performance of the Big 12 Championship:

• Kari Hancock ’17 of Anchorage, Alaska, in Equitation on the Flat
• Carley Barnett, senior communication studies major from Pilot Point, Texas, in Equitation Over Fences

Two earned All-Big 12 Rider of the Year honors

• Megan McMullen ’17 of Norris, Tennessee, was Horsemanship Rider of the Year and named to the All-Big 12 Horsemanship Team for the third year. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, marketing.
• Jayme Omand, senior strategic communication major from Sacramento, California, was the Equitation Over Fences Rider of the Year and named to the All-Big 12 Fences Team.

Senior Kari Hancock practices for Equitation Over Fences on JC at Turning Point Ranch. Photo by Glen E. Ellman

Kari Hancock ’17 of Anchorage, Alaska (Hunt Seat)

• TCU’s Dutch Meyer Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• NCEA All-America First Team for Equitation on the Flat
• Big 12 Equestrian Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• All-Big 12 Equitation on the Flat Team for the second time
• Elite Equestrian, for the highest GPA among riders in the NCEA National Championship semifinals
• Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, which is the Big 12 Conference’s highest academic honor (TCU had four recipients in 2017.)
• NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, a prestigious accolade

Hancock, who was a Chancellor’s Scholar in the John V. Roach Honors College, graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry. She is now a veterinary student at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, where she plans to study equine orthopedic surgery.

Source: TCU Athletics