The No. 1 Auburn Tigers’ equestrian team saw their SEC championship run come to an end Friday night, dropping their semifinal matchup to the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies, 11–8. It was the team’s second loss to the Aggies in three matchups this season. The three-point loss is Auburn’s largest margin of defeat this season and the team’s third defeat of the year.
Despite leading the match in overall score, 1523.33 to 1517.49, the Tigers were unable to secure enough points late to stop a clutch rally from the Aggies. With their conference run ending earlier than the team had hoped, Auburn will have around three weeks to prepare for its appearance in the NCEA Championship in Ocala, Fla., beginning April 26.
It was a back-and-forth matchup between the squads during the fences event. Sophomore Ariana Marnell began the day on the right track. The former All-SEC Freshman Team member earned the Tigers' first point of the match, outscoring her opponent by nearly 10 points. After Auburn’s Caroline Olsen and Texas A&M’s Kate Egan tied with a score of 81, junior Avery Glynn put the Tigers up 2–0 by posting a score of 89.33, the team’s highest of the day. The Aggies took the final two sets, however, knotting the score at 2–2.
During the flatwork event, Auburn recorded its highest total score of the night, 414.67. Four of the five Tigers in the lineup received scores of 82 or higher. The Aggies edged the Tigers, however, combining for 417.67 points, with their final three riders all scoring 85 or more. After dropping three of their first four points, Auburn saw Olsen step up, finishing her set with a score of 87.67 and winning by a single point, leaving the Tigers down one at the halfway mark.
Auburn regained confidence during the horsemanship event, as junior Callie Hogg tied the match at 5–5 after securing a two-point victory in the first set. The Aggies took back-to-back sets to regain momentum, but Auburn responded just as quickly. After a dominant 15-point victory from senior Alexia Tordoff in the fourth set brought the Tigers within one, junior Brooke Olstad edged out Texas A&M’s Kendal Dirksen by a third of a point to tie the match at 7–7 heading into the final event.
The deciding event, reining, began in the Tigers’ favor as senior Caroline Buchanan secured a two-point victory in the first set, giving the team its first lead since going up 2–0 early in the match. Texas A&M dominated the rest of the event, winning the final four sets to secure an 11–8 victory.
The No. 1 Tigers is set to compete three weeks from now in Ocala, Fla., as they look to bring the NCEA Championship home for the first time since 2019.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
