Seeding for NCEA Championships Announced

1002006210020062

April 3, 2018

AUBURN, Ala. ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" The Auburn equestrian team was selected as the No. 2 seed for the 2018 National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championship, the NCEA Selection Committee announced Wednesday.

The nation's top eight teams will vie for the NCEA National Championship, set to take place April 18-21 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas.

The Tigers will take on No. 7 seed Baylor starting Thursday, April 19, at 8:30 a.m. CT.

"We open against a good Baylor team, but I still feel great about the way our team has been riding," head coach Greg Williams said. "The championship will largely play out well to the teams that want it the most."

Additionally, the newly expanded NCEA National Championship format will include a team-seeded bracket not to exceed 16 teams in an NCEA format competition for the four event titles. Event rankings are determined by statistics (Win/Loss; Home/Away; Current Rank of Opponent) of regular season head-to-head competition.

Auburn was seeded second in both Equitation on the Flat and Horsemanship, while earning a No. 3 seed in Equitation Over Fences and Reining. The Horsemanship crew will have a bye in the first round, while the Fences, Flat, and Reining corps will each face Minnesota-Crookston to kick things off Wednesday, April 18 at 8:30 a.m. CT.

The following NCEA Team, Event and Discipline champions will be crowned in Waco, Texas on NCEA Championship Saturday April 21, 2018:

  1. NCEA National Champion Team: 4 riders compete in each of 4 events per team
  2. NCEA Event National Champions: 4 riders in each event
    1. Equitation over Fences
    2. Equitation on the Flat
    3. Horsemanship
    4. Reining
  4. NCEA Discipline National Champions: highest combined point total from place finishes in events competition by discipline ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" must compete in both events of discipline to qualify
    1. Hunt Seat
    2. Western

Texas A&M is the defending NCEA Team National Champion. Since the first NCEA Team National Championship in 2002, Georgia has won the most titles with six, followed by Auburn (4), South Carolina (3), and Texas A&M (3).

For the latest on Auburn equestrian, follow @AuburnEQ on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AuburnEQ.