AUBURN, Ala. – Two days away from accomplishing something that's never been done – an undefeated, national championship season – Auburn's seniors trace their success to their freshman year.
"We all became good friends and the chemistry has just been building ever since," said Lauren Diaz, the SEC Rider of the Year with a 13-2 Horsemanship record.
As freshmen in 2016, the class of '19 was part of a national champion. Last year, as juniors, they helped Auburn win it all again.
It all started three years ago, when seniors like Elizabeth Benson and Griffin Knight showed the newcomers what was required to be part of Auburn's legendary equestrian program.
"They were really strict," Diaz recalled. "We were terrified of them. Everybody knew going into that year that we were going to win. Everybody from every school knew. We knew. There was a really big sense of not wanting to let them down because you have all of these young girls coming in who are really talented, but it was going to be whether we could get with the program mentally, and we did, thankfully."
"They showed us what it took to be a good leader, not to be a dominant person over somebody, but how to lead by example rather than telling people what to do," said senior Blair McFarlin, an All-America in Reining. "We've just tried to take that with what we do and I think it's been very successful."
Auburn's seniors seek to pass on what they've learned, creating a legacy of championships, hard work and leadership.
"We've really tried this year to lead by example, instead of trying to tell everybody what to do," said Hayley Iannotti, who has earned 20 wins this season, 10 each on Equitation Over Fences and Equitation on the Flat.
"We try really hard to do it ourselves and have them follow along in our footsteps, which I think has made us super successful this year, and will help the girls in the years coming up, too, because they've seen that it's worked for us and hopefully they'll try to do that the same."
"We've won before, we know the feeling, and we know how to do it," said Ashton Alexander, who has a team-high 12 wins this season in Equitation on the Flat. "So all the freshman underclassmen got on board with us. Anything we said, 'This is what we need to do.' They were just like, "We got it. You guys know what you're talking about.'"
Auburn equestrian coach Greg Williams refers to the 15-member class as a "very large group of very dynamic leaders."
"They've done just an incredible job," Williams said. "It's the reason we're winning so much. They have talent, but we've had a lot of talented teams, but it's the leadership from this class."
The top-seeded (15-0) Tigers began their quest for Auburn's sixth national championship Thursday morning in Waco, Texas, one final ride for Lauren Diaz and her fellow seniors.
"It's about so much more than winning championships," she said. "While the program is so successful and Coach Williams loves to win, we all love to win, I can say we are so much better people than when we first got here. The winning part just adds a little cherry to the top.
"We've worked really hard for this. We know that our class is really special. The fact that we're all so close and the best of friends really makes it that much more enjoyable."
"In the beginning of the year, we made a hashtag #AsOne & we've tried to follow that."
— Jeff Shearer (@jeff_shearer) April 19, 2019
🗣@therealhaylbog & @AuburnEQ seniors @laurennd13 @BlairMcfarlin & @aalexander143 (+ @GregWilliamsAU) on 2019 class.
One win away from third NC🏆 & first @NCEA_Equestrian unbeaten season. pic.twitter.com/yRK5zq8ZXl
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer