OCALA, Fla. – Lynchburg and South Carolina were crowned NCEA Champions on Saturday at the World Equestrian Center, winning the Single Discipline and Dual Discipline titles, respectively.
College of Charleston's Lainie Rubin was named the Elite Equestrian, the student-athlete from the final four teams with the highest GPA and most credits. It is the second year a Cougar has earned the award.
As for the Most Outstanding Performers in the Championship, Lynchburg cleaned up on the Single Discipline side with Abigail Zemp being named Flat MOP and Maddy Rubin earning Fences MOP.
South Carolina earned three of the four MOPs on the Dual Discipline side, with Emily Patton in Reining, Alexis Potts in Horsemanship and Natalie Jayne for Flat. Texas A&M's Kate Egan was named the MOP for Fences.
South Carolina Fights to the Finish for Fourth NCEA Title
Fourth-seeded South Carolina Equestrian won its fourth National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) National Championship in program history on Saturday, as the Gamecocks held on in thrilling fashion at the World Equestrian Center to defeat No. 2 seed Texas A&M, 10-10 in a raw-score tiebreaker, 1696.08-1473.00.
The Gamecocks never trailed in Saturday’s National Championship meet. It marks South Carolina’s first National Championship in Equestrian since 2015. It also marks the third National Championship in four years for head coach Carol Gwin, who won the national title in 2023 and 2024 at SMU before being named head coach at South Carolina, where she previously served as an assistant from 2010-2014.
“I’ve been coaching at this level for 16 years, and I really think this weekend has been the most thrilling weekend of them all,” South Carolina head coach Carol Gwin said. “This group has been so much fun to coach, and they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them all season long, and it was such a thrill to see all of their hard work pay off this weekend with a National Championship.”
“This morning before the meet, I was reflecting back on my coaching journey and when I was at SMU, we didn’t win a National Championship until my 9th and 10th seasons there. So, for this team to be able to make it here in just our second season together is a testament to how amazing they are and how historic this season has been. I couldn’t be prouder of them and I’m thrilled that they’ll forever go down in history as National Champions at the University of South Carolina.”
The Gamecocks finish the season with a 13-5 record. After going 3-3 in the SEC during the regular season, the South Carolina knocked off No. 1 seed Auburn on Friday and No. 2 seed Texas A&M on Saturday to secure the national title.
“You can’t win a championship without a wonderful team supporting you,” said Gwin. “It starts with our President Dr. Michael Amiridis and our Athletic Director Jeremiah Donati, and I’m just so grateful to both of them for their continued support of our program and for investing in us and giving us the resources to provide our student-athletes with a first-class experience here at the University of South Carolina. I also want to thank our sport administrator Clark Cox and everyone in the athletics department for everything they’ve done to support our student-athletes, coaching staff, and our horses. None of this would be possible without all of their incredible work and support throughout the year.”
The Gamecocks jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after a dominating performance in Reining and never looked back. Freshman Emily Patton won the first of four straight Carolina points when she earned a career-high score of 73.7 to beat Texas A&M’s Mattie Gustin. Sophomore Olivia Cardi followed with a career-high score herself, as she knocked off Isabelle Gonzales, 73.3-72.5. After sophomore Opal Fomish won her point to give the Gamecocks a 3-0 lead, junior Alexis Potts beat A&M’s Gracie Casebolt, 72.3-71.8. Texas A&M won the final reining point to cut South Carolina’s lead to 4-1. Patton was named Most Outstanding Performing in reining.
“Our reining team delivered their best performance of the season today on the biggest stage, and it was truly something special to see,” Gwin said. “Our Western coaches TR Potts and Stephanie Broughton had those girls ready to go this morning and to beat A&M like that in their strongest event, I thought it set the tone for us and got everyone fired up.”
The Gamecocks extended their lead in Horsemanship, winning 3-of-5 points to give South Carolina a 7-3 lead at halftime.
After Texas A&M won the first two Horsemanship points to cut South Carolina’s lead to 4-3, the Gamecocks won three-straight points. Senior Carly Jenkins started the scoring streak when she beat Texas A&M’s Kaitlyn Bloom, 77.7-76.7. After senior Alyssa Jipping cruised to a 76.3-73.8 victory over Kaylynn Heitman in her final ride as a Gamecock, Potts completed her perfect day with a 76.8-74 win over Ady Kallay to give South Carolina a 7-3 lead. Potts, a First Team All-American and SEC Horsemanship Rider of the year, added to her trophy collection by being named Most Outstanding Performer in Horsemanship.
“Our horsemanship team has been such a fun group to watch all year. That entire lineup has won critical points for us all season,” Gwin said. “We have a lot of experience in that lineup, and it showed today. Just an amazing performance by our entire Horsemanship team today, this weekend, and all year.”
On the Flat, the Gamecocks extended their lead to 9-3, after sophomore Vanessa McCaughley and senior Natalie Jayne won back-to-back points. McCaughley knocked off Texas A&M’s Logan Thomas, 80.7-76, and Jayne posted an event-high score of 88.3 to beat her opponent. Jayne was named Most Outstanding Performer on the Flat. The Aggies won the final three Flat points, cutting South Carolina’s lead to 9-6.
“Our Flat team has been so good all season for us, and even though a few of those points didn’t go our way, they did what we needed them to do for us,” Gwin said. “I really thought they all rode well, and sometimes the points just don’t go your way, but we won two very important points that obviously we had to have.”
Texas A&M cut the Gamecocks’ lead to 9-7 after the Aggies won the first Fences point. After losing her Flat point earlier in the meet, sophomore Amira Kettaneh delivered the meet-clinching point for South Carolina, beating A&M’s Logan Thomas, 84.7-40.
Holding a 10-7 lead and maintaining a raw-score tiebreaker advantage at that point, the Gamecocks only needed to finish the meet without a zero in order to win the National Championship. Texas A&M went on to win the final three Fenecs points to even the score at 10-10, but the Gamecocks prevailed on the tiebreaker, 1696.08-1473.00.
“It was certainly a suspenseful and exciting way to end the meet, and I just have to credit our Jumping Seat team for hanging in there and not letting the momentum wipe us out. Texas A&M rode great in Jumping Seat today, which we knew they would. But our girls hung in there, they stayed focused, and they delivered exactly what we needed to get this thing across the finish line. I’ve really had a blast this season working with Sierra Swaffar to coach this group, and I thought Sierra did a wonderful job of keeping the girls locked in and focused on having the clean rides they needed to have.”
The Gamecocks’ previous National Championships in Equestrian came in 2015, 2007, and 2005.
Lynchburg Earns Its Fourth NCEA Single Discipline Title
The University of Lynchburg equestrian team took down Charleston, 6-3, to become the 2026 NCEA Single Discipline National Champions. The Hornets defeated Sweet Briar in a tiebreaker on Friday to move into Championship contention.
The Hornets claim their fourth NCEA Championship title in program history, all in the last five years. Abby Zemp and Madeline Rubin were named the MOPs in both fences and flat, Rubin in the fences and Zemp in the Flat.
In the fences phase, Lynchburg riders produced consistently higher scores across the lineup, finishing with a team total of 419.3 compared to SDC's 377.7 and earning four points in the section. Madeline Rubin led the group with an 88 on Carino, supported by a panel of scores that ranged from the mid-80s to high 80s. Rebecca Collier followed with an 83.7 on Chapman, while Stella Patenaude added an 82.3 on Q. Amaya Bellfield contributed an 85.3 on Chief, giving Lynchburg another score in the mid-80 range. Mary Katherine Ragsdale rounded out the effort with an 80 on Callisto.
The flat phase saw a more even distribution of points, with both teams earning two points. Lynchburg riders again showed consistency throughout the lineup. Rebecca Collier posted an 81.7 on Gino, matching the score of her competitor. Kristen Palmer followed with a 78.7 on Candy, while Abigail Devlin added a 76.7 on Snookie. Abigail Zemp delivered the top flat score for Lynchburg with an 88 on Eleanor, with judges' marks reaching into the low 90s. Amaya Bellfield completed the group with a 74.3 on Major.
About the NCEA
A non-profit corporation, the NCEA is a governing body to advance the sport of collegiate 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 –