March 29, 2018
No. 2 Auburn at SEC Championship
MEET
| Friday, March 30 | 8 a.m. CT | |
| #2 Auburn vs. #3 Texas A&M | ||
AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The No. 2 Auburn equestrian team kicks off the postseason at the 2018 SEC Championship, March 30-31. The two-day event is hosted by South Carolina in Blythewood, S.C., at One Wood Farm and each day begins at 8 a.m. CT. The Tigers are joined by No. 1 Georgia, No. 4 Texas A&M, and No. 10 South Carolina.
"We're ready to go," head coach Greg Williams said. "What this team is putting together with their riding and their attitudes is great. We want this team's own drive to carry them to their goals and they keep continuing to get better. This team is so well-balanced and we're excited for the weekend."
The Tigers are the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 seed Texas A&M Friday at 8 a.m. CT. The Bulldogs (No. 1) and the Gamecocks (No. 4) follow at 12 p.m. CT. The winners from the first day will advance to the championship match that is slated for 12 p.m. CT Saturday, while the other two teams will compete for third place prior to the championship match at 8 a.m. CT.
AUBURN LINEUP
The lineup for the Tigers (9-3) features a handful of experience with some youth.
The Hunt Seat corps will feature a trio of juniors and one freshman that will compete in both Equitation Over Fences and Equitation on the Flat. Leading the squad in Fences in junior Caitlin Boyle with a team-best 10 wins in the event. Classmate Hayley Iannotti has a team-high 11 wins in Flat, while Boyle is close behind at nine. Joining the pair is junior Ashton Alexander and freshman Taylor St. Jacques. Alexander has 13 overall on the year, while St. Jacques is 6-0-1 in Flat and 7-1-0 in Fences.
Junior Alex Ladove is slated to ride for Auburn in Fences, having a 7-4-1 mark in the event. Senior Caitlin Creel will go for the Tigers in Flat and is currently on a three-match winning streak.
Freshman Deanna Green will get the starting nod in both Horsemanship and Reining for Auburn on the Western side of competition. The Pilot Point, Texas, product is tied for first on the team with nine wins in Horsemanship and leads the squad with six MOP nods in the event. Redshirt junior Kelsey Jung also had nine victories for the team in Horsemanship with two MOPs.
Junior Lauren Diaz, sophomore Kara Kaufmann, and freshman Taylor Searles will also ride in Horsemanship for Auburn. Diaz has eight wins for Auburn, while Kaufmann and Searles are each on a three-match winning streak.
The Reining corps features two freshmen, two juniors, and one senior. Freshman Terri-June Granger has a team-best eight victories in the event, while junior Betsy Brown and senior Alexa Rivard have seven each.
Junior Blair McFarlin is fourth with five victories, while Green has two for Auburn on the season.
UP NEXT
Auburn will await its seed for the 2018 NCEA Championships, taking place at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas, April 18-21.