WACO, Texas – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) saw eight regular-season meets in the ninth week of competition.
Delaware State defeats South Dakota State at home
FELTON, DEL. - Delaware State equestrian earned a 13-7 weekend victory against the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits.
The Hornets stayed consistent throughout all four competitions, as they won 3-2 in three of them. They won 6-4 overall in Jumping Seat. Victoria Croston, Olivia Brown, and Lauren Dumeah each took a point in Fences. Brown won Most Outstanding Performer in Fences with an impressive score of 85. In Flat, Lily Kosal, Brown, and Croston each took a point. Brown was named the MOP again with a 79.
Delaware State did slightly better in the Western showings. They won 7-3 over SDSU. Ashley Grasso and Claire Andrews were awarded a point in Horsemanship, with Grasso's 75.5 earning her MOP. Meanwhile, in Reigning, the Hornets dominated with a 4-1 win. The Delaware State points came from Anna Payne, Estella Estus (who was the MOP), Andrews, and Bailey Henderson.
The Hornets won the meet 13-7.
No. 10 UT Martin dominates South Dakota State on the road
FELTON, Del. – Competing for the first time in nearly three weeks, the No. 10 ranked University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian team showed zero signs of rust today as the Skyhawks downed Eastern College Athletic Conference foe South Dakota State by a 12-4 margin.
UT Martin accounted for all four MOP's as those medals went to Emerson Maier in fences (career-high 85 points), Gabby Adams in flat (85 points), Mia McAfoos in horsemanship (74.5 points) and Aubrey Malone in reining (69 points). With the win, the Skyhawks improved to 3-0 in the ECAC standings for the 2024-25 campaign.
UT Martin swept all four head-to-head victories in horsemanship, starting with McAfoos' first MOP and fourth win of the season. Lexi Bailey tied for a team-high score of 74.5 points for her fifth triumph of the year and while Lillian Laney (74 points, fourth win) and Kate Davis (73 points, third win) also emerged victorious.
In reining, the Skyhawks took three out of four points – headed by Malone's first MOP and fourth victory of the season. Joining Malone with wins was Elise Mason (72 points for her team-best fifth consecutive triumph) and Logan Putvinski (70.5 points, tying Mason for the team lead with her fifth victory). Bailey also took part in the event for UT Martin, securing 61 points.
The Skyhawks additionally claimed three victories in flat as Adams pushed her winning streak out to five meets with her team-best third MOP of the 2024-25 campaign. Bridget Vieau (76 points) and Elizabeth Becker (71 points) also earned their second victories of the season while Lydia Jordan collected 71 points to round out the UT Martin lineup.
Maier's first collegiate MOP and third win of the season highlighted the Skyhawks in fences as the sophomore from Land O' Lakes, Fla. set a career-high score for the second time in as many meets. Becker (82 points) also came through for her team-best fifth win of the season while Adams and Kate Mills also represented UT Martin with 70 and 69 points, respectively.
No. 4 Oklahoma State shuts the door on No. 5 SMU at home
STILLWATER — Oklahoma State's fourth-ranked equestrian team used a strong second half to defeat No. 5 SMU, 13-5 at Pedigo-Hull Equestrian Center on Friday.
With the win, the Cowgirls improved to 4-2 overall and 7-1 all-time at home against the Mustangs. SMU fell to 3-4 and snapped its two game win streak.
The Cowgirls earned three out of the four MOPs in the meet. This is the fifth time OSU has claimed at least three of the awards in a meet this season.
Gable Gering scored a 91.5 in Flat. Her performance is the highest Flat performance by any Cowgirl freshman in the event.
The meet started with Horsemanship and Fences.
The Cowgirls claimed a 4-1 advantage in Fences, where the five riders averaged a score of 85.5.
Riley Hogan led the way in the event, putting forth the highest score of the day with an 88.5. This was her 37th career win in the event, tying her for OSU's program record. Her win improves her to 6-0 in Fences this season. She also collected her sixth MOP of the season, and 16th of her career.
Mackenzie Carreras scored a career-high 86.5, besting her season-high by four-and-a-half total points. Bella Holway scored a season-high 85.5 defeating SMU's Hannah Hoch. This was Holway's third Fences win of the season. Freshman Emma Hechtman scored a new career-high 84.5 to earn her first career win in only her third ride.
In Horsemanship, the Cowgirls lost the advantage 2-3 in the team scoring. This marks the first time OSU's Horsemanship squad has lost this season.
June Roberson and Claire McDowall earned their respective team-leading fifth wins in the event on the season.
Roberson highlighted the event for the Cowgirls, defeating her opponent 77.75-71. The Horsemanship captain is undefeated on the season with a 5-0-1 record. McDowall scored a 76.5, defeating Violet Shetler by a singular point. McDowall is now 5-1 this season, with 35 total wins in the event over her career.
SMU's Alexa Black, Nya Kearns and Jayna Lagace scored three points over Cowgirls Peyton Baxter, Bella D'Onofrio and Alana Stanton, respectively.
After an intermission, the meet continued with Reining and Flat, with the Cowgirls claiming the team advantage in both.
In its strongest performance this season, OSU's Flat squad won 4-0. Gering led the way for the Cowgirls with her historic win, giving her the first MOP of her career. Hannah Dodd earned an 80-77.5 victory, while Caroline Mirts defeated her opponent 83-79.5.
Hogan picked up her second win of the day, defeating Elli Yeager, 88.5-81.5 She now has 56 wins between Fences and Flat.
The Reining squad picked up its fourth team advantage of the season, beating SMU 3-1.
Emma Filiatreau led the way, defeating Maria Richards, 73.5-70.75. Filiatreau's performance earned her the second MOP of the season and her career. Tristan Bagby put together her best ride of her season, earning an event-high 74.5. The final Cowgirl point came from Abby Budd, who defeated SMU's Shelby Clausen, 71.75-70.75.
No. 10 UT Martin defeats Delaware State on the road to remain undefeated on the weekend
MARTIN, Tenn. – The No. 10 ranked University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian squad improved to 4-0 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference standings following an 11-9 road victory at Delaware State today.
The Skyhawks (4-3) received MOP performances today out of Mia McAfoos (horsemanship) and Lexi Bailey (reining). UT Martin also displayed balanced scoring, securing four points in flat, three victories in reining and two points apiece in fences and horsemanship.
Gabby Adams tallied her team-best sixth win of the season (and second of the weekend) in flat with 81 points. Elizabeth Becker (77 points) and Bridget Vieau (75) also won their third decisions of the season and second of the weekend while Rileigh Weiss' season-best 77 points were good enough for her first triumph in 2024-25. Lydia Jordan also represented the Skyhawks in the event with 73 points.
Bailey's second MOP and fourth victory of the season in reining came as a result of a season-high 73 points. Logan Putvinski also reached a season-best 71.5 points on the way to her team-high sixth win of the season, sharing that title with Elise Mason (66.5 points for the victory today). Aubrey Malone additionally tallied a season-high 70.5 points in a narrow 0.5-point setback while Kate Davis collected 66.5 points as a member of the UT Martin lineup.
In fences, Maier's second win of the weekend and fourth of the season came after an 84-point performance. She joined Kate Mills (83 points, third victory of the year) as Skyhawk winners in that event while Vieau (career-best 85 points), Adams (83) and Becker (82) also competed today for UT Martin.
McAfoos claimed her second horsemanship MOP in as many days and team-best fifth head-to-head victory of the season by equaling her career-high with 76.5 points. Lillian Laney additionally produced a win with 73 points while Davis (73.5), Bailey (69.5) and Kailyn Veale (69) earned starts for the Skyhawks in the fall finale.
Bridgewater defeats Sewanne and Berry College to remain undefeated on the weekend
BRIDGEWATER, Va. - The Bridgewater College NCEA riding team swept a pair of matches over the weekend for their first wins under co-head coaches Beth Howard and Luanne Leonard.
On Friday the Eagles took on Sewanee in the Volunteer State. BC took a 3-2 advantage after the Fences portion of the meet as Margarita Trunkhita, Jimena Garcia Nunez and Madeline Granger all picked up points for the Eagles. The flat portion of the competition was highly contested with Bridgewater taking a pair of the five possible points as Margaret Brown and Willow Wirght scored for BC to tie the meet at 5-5 and send it to a tiebreaker. The Eagles picked up the win on total team score by a count of 751-664 to secure their first victory under the second-year co-head coaches, while Willow Wright was named the most outstanding performer on the flat as well.
The Eagles then made the trip further south to Berry on Saturday and backed up Friday's performance. Out of the gate, the Eagles took a 3-1 edge after fences as Brown, Wright and Granger all scored points in the opening portion of the event. BC continued its hot streak in the flat as Wright, and Brown scored again for the Eagles and Granger nearly did as well, but settled for a draw on Rhett to secure a 5-2 team victory. Granger was named the meet's most outstanding performer over fences while Wright took home the honor on the flat in the victory.
South Carolina Defeats Sweet Briar in Final Fall Meet
BLYTHEWOOD, SC – South Carolina Equestrian rounded out the fall with a Jumping Seat meet against Sweet Briar, nabbing a 9-1 win and sweeping both available MOPs.
FENCES
The Gamecocks took Fences 4-1 to open up the first half, with Bella Primavera scoring South Carolina’s first point of the day with her 79-69 victory on Dento against Maggie Booth. Grace Rabb followed suit, posting a 79 on Rio to take down Naomia Dachis’ 74. Freshman Amira Kettaneh grabbed her point on Schnitzel with a monstrous 80-64 win, earning her third MOP of the season in Fences this year, the most for any Gamecock. Natalie Jayne rounded out scoring with an 18-point victory over Katherine Atherton, 80-62.
FLAT
South Carolina swept the Vixens on the Flat, taking all five available points. Sarah Rabb started things off with a season high of 89, taking her point against Atherton’s 81 on Barnaby. Kettaneh continued her winning streak on the day, earning her point 83-79 on Nnao over Isabelle Mesiarik. Sophie Mitchell added her fifth win of the year after taking her point 82-80 on Major against Elle Peterson, followed by Mary Hunter Millet edging out Booth 76-75 on Goose. Natalie Jayne then finished up the day with a 94-80 win on Tanner against Wyette Felton, tying the program record for the highest Flat score in Gamecock history, earning her her second MOP of the season in the event.
About the NCEA
A non-profit corporation, the NCEA is a governing body to advance the sport of equestrian. The NCEA is responsible for the development and administration of equestrian rules and guidelines. Equestrian is subject to all NCAA policies and procedures in the same manner as other sports. In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels.
NCEA competitions are in a head-to-head format, and schools may choose to compete as a single or dual discipline team (Jumping Seat and Western). Each discipline has two events: in Jumping Seat, Fences and Flat, and in Western, Horsemanship and Reining. Teams can have five riders per event, with horses assigned by random draw at the start of the competition. Riders from opposing teams compete on the same horse, and whichever rider receives the higher score earns one point for her team. The level of difficulty is demonstrated by the accuracy of the pattern and how the competitor uses the horse to the best of her ability.
To stay up to date all year long on all things NCEA Equestrian, follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NCEA_Equestrian and @ncea_eq.