COLLEGE STATION, TX -- The National Champion Texas A&M equestrian team added three walk-on student-athletes to the 2012-13 roster, head coach Tana McKay announced.
Freshmen hunter seat riders Megan Phillips (Atlanta, Ga.) and Avery Farley (Happy Valley, Ore.), and freshman reining competitor Ashley Dotson (Reno, Nev.) will join the team for the 2012-13 season.
Phillips, a graduate of Pope High School in Atlanta, worked with trainer Heather Steinman before arriving at A&M. She qualified for the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Medal Finals and the ASPCA Maclay National Championships for the past four years. She also qualified for National Junior Hunter Finals during her junior and senior years.
Dotson will compete in reining for the Aggies. The Galena High School graduate comes to A&M with an American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Youth Region 7 Champion title, and was the reserve champion in the AQHA Youth Summer Spectacular.
Farley won the 1.40m Junior Jumper Championship in Thermal, Calif., in 2012 under the tutelage of Trainer Megan Jordan. In 2011 she qualified for the Young Rider Championships in Pennsylvania, but was unable to compete due to her horse sustaining an injury. She rides the Zone 9 Grand Champion 7/8-year-old Horse of the Year and is a graduate of Clackamas High School.
Texas A&M students wishing to join the three walk-ons on the 2012-13 roster should attend the tryout meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 12, at 6:30 p.m. at Burkhart Auditorium, located on the northwest corner of Kyle Field. Attendance to the meeting is mandatory for tryouts.
Attendees must be female students at A&M with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0, and must have advanced training in horsemanship, reining, hunter seat equitation on the flat or hunter seat equitation over fences. Participants should also have proof of a sports physical in the past six months, as well as a sickle cell blood test.
To learn more about Texas A&M equestrian, log on to AggieAthletics.com and follow @AggieEquestrian on Twitter.
