WACO, Texas – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) saw seven meets in the ninth week of competition, finishing out the Fall portion of the season.
The Single Discipline Meet of the Week was Bridgewater at Berry on November 22, while No. 1 Georgia went to No. 2 Auburn for the Meet of the Week for Dual Discipline on November 21.
11/21 - Bridgewater Victorious at Sewanee
SEWANEE, Tenn. - The Bridgewater Equestrian team competed in a pair of meets over the weekend, coming away with a win over Sewanee, 6-4, to open the slate.
BC opened the weekend with a 6-4 victory at Sewanee on Friday, pushing the Eagles to 3-1 on the season and Sewanee falling to 0-4. The Tigers took a 3-2 after fences. Willow Wright (78) and Piper Harris (84) accounted for BC's scoring.
BC dominated the flat portion of the meet as Jimenia Garcia Nunez (72) got the Eagles started as sher earned her point. Margaret Brown (95) followed suit and a perfect 100 from Wright evened the team score. Mackenzie Bingham's 91 ended up being the decider as it was enough to edge out the final ride by Sewanee to lock up a 6-4 victory.
MEET OF THE WEEK
11/21 - No. 1 Georgia Falls at No. 2 Auburn
AUBURN, Ala. – No. 2 Auburn equestrian made a statement in its final meet of the fall Friday evening, defeating defending national champion and top-ranked Georgia 14-6 at the Auburn Equestrian Center. The Tigers won all four events and swept the Most Outstanding Performer honors.
“I could not be more proud of them for being able to win all four events and all four MOPs,” Auburn head coach Jessica Braswell said after the rivalry win. “We talked about the opportunity that was in front of us today, and I think they really took advantage of it. Georgia is an excellent team and they rode well, but we had our best performance of the semester. We’ll have to come back and hit the ground running in January, but I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Auburn junior Avery Glynn earned MOP honors in both Fences and Flat for her fifth and sixth awards of the season. Junior Alexia Tordoff received the MOP honor in Horsemanship, and sophomore Caroline Buchanan was tabbed the MOP in Reining.
On the Flat, Glynn stayed undefeated in the event at 6-0 with a decisive 91-79.5 win riding King. Freshman Caroline Olsen added an 81.5-69.5 victory for her fifth win of the season in the event. Kate Hagerty defeated Tessa P. Brown 79.5-77, and Sadie Berkhout edged Ella Duffy 78-77 to secure four Flat points for Auburn. Ariana Marnell posted an impressive 86.5, but fell 88-86.5.
In Reining, Buchanan earned her first MOP honor of the year with a 74.25-73.25 win over Kennedy Buchanan. Tordoff scored a 75 on Barbie for a one-point victory, and freshman Sofia Tieche added a 71.25-67 win to give Auburn three points in the event.
Auburn carried a 7-3 lead into halftime as the sun set over the Auburn Equestrian Center and the lights came on for the second half.
Riding first in Horsemanship, Tordoff set the tone with a 78.5 in an MOP-winning performance. Brooke Jolstad earned her fourth win of the season with a 77.5-76.5 score, and Sydney Swallom stayed perfect on the year with a 75.25-70.75 victory.
Over Fences, Glynn earned her second point of the meet with an 89-85 ride for her fourth Fences MOP honor this season. Olsen and Hagerty each scored an 86 to win their matchups, and Marnell claimed a 79-64 victory to give Auburn four points in the event.
“I would love to thank the Auburn Family for coming out tonight,” continued Braswell. “The weather was not the best today, but I appreciate everyone who braved the rain and came out. The home meet environment was definitely an advantage.”
With the win, Auburn improved to 5-1 overall, 2-1 in SEC competition, and a perfect 3-0 at home. The Tigers extended their win streak to four and tightened Georgia’s all-time series lead to 34-29.
11/21 - No. 5 Oklahoma State Defeats No. 8 Fresno State
FRESNO, Calif. — Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked equestrian team defeated No. 8 Fresno State on a 10-10 tiebreaker, edging the Bulldogs 1,506.75 to 1,434.75 on raw score.
With the win, the Cowgirls improved to 3-1 with a Big 12 record of 2-1 while the Bulldogs fell to 2-3 and 1-2 in conference play. The victory moves OSU's head-to-head record against Fresno State to 18-4 and 4-4 on the road.
Three Cowgirls earned MOP honors on the day, with Ava Bush collecting the second of her career while Alana Stanton and Sophia Tabasso each took home their first of their careers.
The meet began with Horsemanship and Fences.
OSU opened the meet with a 3–2 advantage in Horsemanship, thanks to standout rides from Stanton, Bella D'Onofrio and team captain June Roberson. Stanton put the first points on the board for the Cowgirls with a convincing 75.25–69.25 victory, her third win in four outings this season. D'Onofrio followed with a season-best 73.75 to secure her second win of the year. Roberson closed out the event by extending her perfect start to the season to 4–0 — and, dating back to last year, pushed her winning streak to eight straight.
The Fences unit secured another 3–2 advantage, with points coming from Jumping Seat captain Ellie DuPuis, Emma Hechtman and Bella Holway. Each rider scored an 80 or above, as DuPuis defeated her opponent 80–77.5, Hechtman posted an 83–36 victory, and Holway earned an 82.5–70 win. On the season, OSU's Fences squad has had a 12-8 advantage over its opponents.
At the halfway mark, the Cowgirls led 6-4 as the meet would conclude with Reining and Flat.
The Cowgirl Reining team entered the day with a 10–5 season record but was narrowly outpaced by the Bulldogs, with points coming from Bush and Emma Filiatreau. Filiatreau, an All-American last season, improved to 4–0 on the year with a 70.5–69 victory, marking the 25th win of her career and moving her record to 25–9–1. Bush, meanwhile, earned MOP after a 70–68.25 win over the Bulldogs' Alana Becker.
In the Flat, Tabasso and Lourdes Low both came away with massive victories to give the Cowgirls 10 points on the day and move the meet on to a tiebreaker. Tabasso earned her MOP with an 85.5-77 win to move the freshman to 3-1 on the season. Low has now won both of her outings on the season, as she followed her win vs. Baylor with an 84.5-70.5 win over the Bulldogs' Meagan Mejia.
After all four events, the overall score was tied at 10–10, but the Cowgirls secured the win on a higher raw score, defeating the Bulldogs 1,506.75–1,434.75 in the tiebreaker.
MEET OF THE WEEK
11/22 - Berry Defeats Bridgewater
BERRY, Ga. – The Berry Vikings were victorious over Bridgewater on Saturday, finishing with both MOPs and a 5-4 decision.
Berry improves to 1-1 on the season while Bridgewater falls to 3-2. The all-time series between the pair is still led by the Eagles at 3-2.
In Fences, the Vikings saw Meaghan Kursman join Willa Akins as Berry's MOPs for the event so far this season, Kursman earning an 88 on Vance to earn her point over a 79. It was the lone point in Fences against the Eagles in the event.
For the Flat, Berry earned four points against the Eagles' one, with Haley Wilson earning the MOP with an 88 on Rhett to top a 64.
11/22 - No. 5 Oklahoma State at No. 9 UC Davis / Live Scoring
Davis, Calif. — Oklahoma State's fifth-ranked equestrian team defeated No. 10 UC Davis by a score of 14-6 Saturday at the UC Davis Equestrian Center. The win completes a weekend sweep for the Cowgirls, who squeezed past Fresno State in a tiebreaker on Friday.
With the win, the Cowgirls close out the fall portion of their schedule at 4-1, while the Aggies drop to 4-4. OSU's 4-1 start is its best through five meets since the 2021-22 season, when the Cowgirls finished 15-2 and won the national championship.
The Cowgirls earned all four MOP honors on the day, marking their first sweep of the season. In Jumping Seat, Blake Rowan and Cadence Kueker each secured the second MOP of their seasons, while All-Americans June Roberson and Emma Filiatreau added another accolade to cap their perfect 5-0 fall campaigns.
The meet began with Flat and Fences.
The Aggies claimed a 3-2 advantage over the Cowgirls in Flat. OSU's points came from Cadence Kueker and Mackenzie Carreras, who each notched their second Flat win of the season. Kueker and Carreras were also the only Cowgirls to score above 80 in the event — Kueker winning her point 84-81 and Carreras earning an 82-78 victory.
OSU responded by taking Fences 3-2, led by a trio of underclassmen Cowgirls. Emma Hechtmandefeated her opposition 79-77 and freshmen Blake Rowan and Lauren Gee each had convincing wins to add to their impressive beginning to their Cowgirl careers. Rowan bested the Aggies' Anna Donovan 86-76, while Gee won her ride 85-72.
At the break, the meet was tied 5-5 with the Western events coming up.
The Cowgirl Western teams dominated the day, claiming nine of the 10 possible points over the Aggies.
In Horsemanship, Jalyn McElmurray narrowly missed the opening point, falling 74-74.5, but the Cowgirls responded with four straight wins. Sheridan Baringer earned the first victory of her career with a 72-65 decision over Addyson Brown. The remaining three points all came by one-point margins; Bella D'Onofrio won 71-70, Alana Stanton took her match 74-73 and June Roberson notched her ninth consecutive win with a 75-74 victory.
At the conclusion of the first three events, OSU led 9-6, meaning the Reining squad needed just two points to secure the win. Instead, the Cowgirls swept all five points, marking the first event sweep by any OSU unit this season. Tristan Bagby earned her second win of the year, Ayden Welman and Katie Ramsey each collected their third, Ava Bush picked up her fourth and Emma Filiatreau improved to a perfect 5-0.
11/22 - South Dakota State Wins at Minnesota Crookston
CROOKSTON, Minn. - South Dakota State rode a sweep in reining to come away with a 12-8 victory over Minnesota Crookston in head-to-head equestrian competition Saturday at the Charles H. Casey Equine Arena.
With the victory, the Jackrabbits improved to 3-4 overall and 3-2 against ECAC opponents. UMC fell to 0-4 both overall and in league action.
Sophomore Emma Riggs paced SDSU in reining with a score of 68.5 points as she won her matchup against Brooke Hoven by two points. Maryn Mead was next with a score of 67.5 to post a win over McKenna Hooyer and Adisyn Kuxhaus came through with a winning score of 67 en route to earning Most Outstanding Performer honors on Izzy. Hailey Hanson (66) and Lillie Wallis (65) completed the Jackrabbit sweep.
SDSU also picked up three of the five points in horsemanship as Hanson led the way with a point-producing ride of 75 points. Grace Gerbus (74) and Anna Minich (71) also were victorious for the Jackrabbits.
Minnesota Crookston held 3-2 advantages in each of the jumping seat events. Heidi White (84) and Isabelle Malick (75) were the Jackrabbit winners in the fences category, while Juliana Gullo (79) and Sierra Elliott (75) tallied wins for SDSU in flat. White and Elliott were both honored as MOPs in their respective events.
11/23 - Berry Falls at Sewanee
SEWANEE, Tenn. – Sewanee came out on top against Berry on Sunday with an 8-2 decision.
Berry becomes 1-2 on the season while the Tigers grab their first victory, now 1-4.
Berry's Meaghan Kursman was the lone point-earner in Fences for the Vikings with an 82 over a 76. Sewanee's Rebecca Love, Olivia Carmouche, Addison Durrett and MOP Emma Sameth each earned their points, Sameth with an 86-55 to win.
In Flat, Kursman once again was the Vikings lone point, with Tiger Carmouche earning the MOP with a score of 97 to top a 94 on Archie.
Sewanee continues to lead the all-time series, now at 4-0 over the Vikings.
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.
- collegiateequestrian.com -