On a blustery day in front of a massive home crowd, Auburn equestrian won an SEC championship 11-7, the very first to be earned on its own turf. This is their fourth such title in a row.
“We got to host the very first SEC championship here and we lost and then four years later, we lose again, so here we are,” said head coach Greg Williams. “It just means so much. You know how much I love Auburn. I love this university and of course, this team.”
The Texas A&M Aggies came in ranked No. 1 after defeating South Carolina in their semifinal yesterday. No. 2 Auburn advanced as the underdog after beating Georgia.
“We had been undefeated all through my first three years, so coming into this as sort of an underdog was not a feeling we were really used to,” said senior Emma Kurtz. “It felt different. We were on a new level and I really think it showed this weekend.”
Auburn’s Deanna Green won a place on the SEC All-Championship team for Horsemanship, one of four titles given for each event.
“These girls ride for each other. Whenever we have a mistake, the other girl picks us up and it really showed today,” Green said. “We really didn’t change what we were doing. We cheered for each other. We trusted each other.”
Auburn took home two Most Outstanding Performance awards, going to Sophee Steckbeck for Fences and Emma Kurtz for Flat.
“Today, the plan happened to work out and it was really exciting to be able to give that back to my team,” said Ava Stearns. “It was amazing. So much of the Auburn Family came out to support us today. They energy here was fantastic and it was definitely a big part of this win so we want to thank everybody who came.”
The Tigers, who have made a habit of going undefeated, finish their season with an overall 9-3 record, going 4-2 in the SEC.
“I think that this was a hard season for us and we learned a lot of things. We really had to pull together as a team,” Stearns said. “I’m a junior, so I didn’t get to do SECs my freshman year because of COVID, so it was only our second time for a lot of us, so it was definitely extra special.”
Auburn opened with Horsemanship and was led by Olivia Tordoff’s 231. All-SEC Green scored a 228 and Madison Parduhn earned a 222.
“I was really discouraged when we got done with the Horsemanship. We just cleaned up on the Flat. I thought we were going to come out a lot stronger on the Horsemanship side,” Willaims said. “This is one of the strongest Horsemanship teams ever in college. At one point, it was scary, but you think ‘We’re not going to crumble. We’ve got the good reiners.’”
The other opener, Flat ended with Kurtz scoring a 268.5, Ellie Ferrigno with a 245 and Steckbeck with a 225.5. At the break, Auburn led 5-4 before beginning Reining and Fences.
In Fences, Auburn was led by Steckbeck with a 271, followed by Ellie Ferrigno with a 265. Ava Stearns rounded out their top three with a 253.
“The jumping seat squad, they came out big time in both events. It was almost redemption for what happened to us at Georgia,” Williams said. “I think we take that into the championships and know that as a team that as good as we are, the others just got to get focused so if one gets down, the others can pull them out.”
For the Reining portion, Terri-June Granger and Isabella Tesmer led the Tigers with a score of 214 each. Boo Kammerer earned a 210.5 and Deanna Green just topped her score with a 211.
Auburn will now advance to the NCEA Championship in Ocala, Florida where they will serve as the host institution. The event will begin April 14 and go through April 16.
“These girls ride for each other. Whenever we have a mistake, the other girl picks us up and it really showed today,” Green said. “We really didn’t change what we were doing. We cheered for each other. We trusted each other.”
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Callie Stanford, junior in communications, is the sports editor at the Auburn Plainsman. Currently a junior, she has been with The Plainsman since January 2021.
Twitter: @Stanford1Callie
