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| No. 1 Auburn def. No. 7 Kansas State | |
| Location | Manhattan, Kan.. | Timbercreek Stables |
| Results | |
| Online | Twitter: @AuburnEQ | Facebook: Auburn Equestrian |
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team closed out the regular season with a 10-9 road win at No. 7 Kansas State Saturday and moved to 11-1 overall. The victory marked the squad's seventh in a row and their regular season record marked the best in program history in the modern scoring era.
"I'm very glad we finished off the season with another road win," head coach Greg Williams said. "We put together three dominating events with a very uncharacteristic loss in the reining. With the regular season over, we are happy with where we are as we head into post season and feel we are in a good position to win rings."
The Tigers opened the day strong with a 4-1 victory in Equitation over Fences. Freshman Hayley Iannotti kicked things off with a 79-75 win over KSU's Halle Kutsche. Senior Elizabeth Benson scored 86 points to take her match, while freshman Ashton Alexander finished with an 84-78 victory over Christina Martinelli. Freshman Caitlin Boyle was the last rider in the event and came away with an 85-77 win. With their wins, Iannotti, Benson and Boyle upped their total to 11 apiece this year in Fences.
In Horsemanship, senior Griffin Knight put her name in Auburn history as the Madisonville, Texas, product won her 11th match of the year with a 77.5-74 victory. With her win, she set a new program single-season wins record in Horsemanship, besting Indy Roper's 10 wins in 2010. Knight also upped her career wins total to 34, tying Roper's record set in 2013. In addition, her 77.5 points was a season-high total.
Adding to Horsemanship's 3-1 win was senior Hannah Loseke and junior Hannah Stephens. Loseke picked up her eighth win of the year with a 76-75 victory over Danielle Kemper. Stephens bested Sydney Anson with a season-tying score of 74.5. Freshman Sarah Miller tied Wildcat Paige Kemper in her match as each scored a 70.5.
The Hunt Seat riders capped their day with a 3-2 victory in Equitation on the Flat. Benson led the way with an 88-77 win for her 12th of the year in the event. That tied the Auburn single-season wins record also held by Benson (2015), Demi Stiegler (2015), Rachel Lin (2014) and Maggie McAlary (2011).
Junior Tory Hoft's ninth win on Flat this season came in an 85-76 victory over KSU's Rory Reichelt. Classmate Ashley Foster won her 10th Flat match this year with an 86-83 win over Henley Adkins.
Kansas State closed out the day with a 5-0 win in Reining.
Benson and Griffin earned MOP honors in Fences and Horsemanship, respectively. It marked the fourth honor this year in Fences for Benson and the third in Horsemanship for Griffin.
Postseason competition begins with Auburn traveling to Bishop, Ga., for the 2016 SEC Championships. The two-day meet runs April 25-26 at the Equestrian Complex and the No. 1 seed Auburn will open the tournament facing No. 4 seed South Carolina.
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