Auburn equestrian clinched its third consecutive SEC Championship with a 15-5 win in Saturday's meet against Georgia.
This is Auburn's fourth conference title in the SEC, with the first coming in 2016 and then three consecutive titles starting in 2019. Auburn equestrian has won seven conference titles overall, three of which came from wins in the Southern Equestrian Conference in 2004, 2010, and 2011.
“This team has been an amazing team and I can’t talk about them enough,” said head coach Greg Williams. “They’ve continually just handled whatever adversity is thrown at them. The staff that I have here in coaches Mary Meneely and Jessica Braswell have worked hard to get this team prepared. We’re going to celebrate this a little bit and then get back to work for nationals.”
Auburn finished the year with an 8-0 record, which gives them a win streak of 42 straight meets. The last loss for the Tigers came in the 2018 SEC Championship match almost three years ago.
“This is the best team I’ve ever had the chance to ride with,” said senior Deanna Green. “We’ve been working really hard for a couple years now to continue to compete at a high level. I’m so proud of this team and I’m excited to see what’s in store for the future.”
Taylor St. Jacques and Boo Kammerer secured positions on the SEC All-Championship team for their Flat and 2-0-0 contributions, respectively. Both members were also named meet MOPs, Kammerer for reining and Jacques for Flat.
St. Jacques’ win in Flat gave her 48 career wins, enough to push her into a tie for Auburn’s program record. She
now shares the record with Caitlin Boyle, who was on the team from 2016-2019.
“This team is unbelievable,” said St. Jacques. “We all believed wholeheartedly in this team and there was never a doubt. I think that’s something special. There really is not enough good things to say about this team and I think today’s performance shows how strong we are both inside the ring and outside the ring.”
The record for career wins in Horsemanship was also broken by Green and Taylor Searles, who surpassed Lauren Diaz’s record. The pair each secured victories in the tournament to secure 42 career wins apiece.
Auburn advanced to the championship following a win over four-seed South Carolina Friday in the semifinal. The tournament was held in Bishop, Georgia at the UGA Equestrian Center and included the conference's top four teams
The championship opened with a 7-3 lead for the Tigers after Fences and Horsemanship. The Fences competitors set up a 4-1 lead, beginning with McKayla Langmeier’s 263-237 win. She was followed by a 257-225 showing from Ava Stearns and a tight 239-238 win for Meghan Knapic.
St. Jacques wrapped up the event with a 258.5-249 win and an 8-0-0 finish on the year.
The Horsemanship final was 3-2, with Georgia securing the opening two points and Auburn coming back to answer with the final three. Green edged out her opponent 197.5-192.5, which was followed by another close win as Maddie Spak won 219-218.
Searles rounded out the Tigers score with a close 218.5-218, joining Green at the top of the wins list.
A lightning delay due to storms across the southeast was enough to temporarily break off competition up but did nothing to slow down the Tigers’ momentum.
Georgia secured the first point in Flat, but St. Jacques and Langmeier came in with a pair of wins to bring the score up to 9-4. St. Jacques put up a 255 that would secure MOP honors and an 8-0 performance this season in the event.
Auburn’s reining performance began with Isabella Tesmer grabbing the 10th point in a 208-196 win. Stearns then earned No. 11 in a 236-230 flat victory. The next four Auburn reining riders swept the Bulldogs to finish the event.
Terri-June Granger won a close 207.5-205.5, followed by a 206.5 Searles win. Green came next, with an even tighter 205-204 victory. Kammerer rounded out the event with a 209.5 that was enough to earn both the victory and MOP, improving her record to 7-0-1 on the year.
To finish out the season, Auburn hopes to secure another trophy at the 2021 NCEA Championship in Waco, Texas. The finals will be held from April 15-17 in the Extraco Events Center.
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Callie Stanford is from Springville, Alabama and is currently a sophomore at Auburn. She has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
