AUBURN, Ala. – Less than a week after finishing an undefeated season and earning another national title, the Auburn equestrian team celebrated 2018-19 at its annual banquet.
Once again, there was much to celebrate as the academic year came to a close. A national championship. A conference title. A perfect season. Many individual awards. But the night was focused on the 15-person senior class that has left a legacy unlike any before.
The 2018-19 senior class finished their time on the Plains as three-time national champions, two-time Southeastern Conference champions and put together a 61-10 overall record.
"This is a very special group," head coach Greg Williams said. "When they came in as freshmen, they really bought into the seniors that year and won a national title. They found the importance of that when it was their turn to lead and it's evident in how their four years shaped up."
These senior leaders guided the squad to an 18-0 overall record, becoming the first program in the history of the sport to have an unblemished season. They also became just the second team since the Southeastern Conference started sponsoring the sport to win both an SEC and NCEA title in the same year. The first team was the Auburn Tigers in 2016 when this group were a bunch of freshmen.
Among the 15, a handful have now left the program among the best to ever ride for Auburn.
Senior Caitlin Boyle, who was named the team's MVP in Equitation Over Fences this year, concluded her career as the winningest Hunter Seat rider in program history. The 2019 SEC Fences Rider of the Year set the program's career wins record in both Fences and Equitation on the Flat, concluding her time on the Plains with 57 and 48, respectively.
Classmates Hayley Iannotti and Ashton Alexander finished their careers on the program's all-time lists as Iannotti totaled 45 career wins in Flat and 44 in Fences. Alexander had 41 in Flat and 45 in Fences.
Also setting records this year was senior Lauren Diaz in Horsemanship. The Western rider put an exclamation to her amazing career with 41 victories over four years, setting a program wins record in the event. She was awarded the team's MVP in Horsemanship.
Senior Kelsey Jung also finished among the program's best in the event, totaling 32 career wins over three years spent on the Plains.
In Reining, seniors Blair McFarlin, Ali Fratessa and Betsy Brown put together solid performances in their final season as McFarlin finished in a tie for first with 12 wins and was placed on the NCEA All-Championship Team. Fratessa, the team's MVP in the event, totaled 11 victories, while Brown added 10.
McFarlin concluded her career with 36 victories overall, finishing second on the all-time list. Her 71 meets competed was the most by any Tiger in the event.
But aside from the plethora of accolades this year's senior class is taking with them, one of the more exciting pieces from this historic season is the amount of talent returning from the underclassmen.
Sophomores Taylor St. Jacques and Taylor Searles along with freshman McKayla Langmeier took home three of four national Rider of the Year honors at the end of the season. St. Jacques added NCEA Flat Rider of the Year to her already SEC title in the event. Searles finished with an impressive 16-1-1 mark in Horsemanship, earning the national award. Langmeier put together one of the best inaugural campaigns on the Plains, winning NCEA Fences Rider of the Year to go with her SEC Freshman Flat and Fences honors.
St. Jacques was awarded the team's MVP in Flat, while Langmeier earned the overall Hunter Seat MVP. Sophomore Deanna Green was selected as the team's overall Western MVP, earning All-America honors in both Horsemanship and Reining.
Adding to the returning youth, freshman Emma Kurtz finished as an All-American in both Hunter Seat events and was placed on the NCEA All-Championship team.
It was truly a year for the books. A perfect mark. A record 19 NCEA All-Americans. Three national riders of the year. Five SEC riders of the year. Fifteen All-SEC recognitions.
But above all, it was how this team came together to achieve its goals that truly made it a record year to remember.
"Perfection's not that scoreboard," Williams said. "The dash and the zero is not perfection. It's what you do day in and day out in pursuit of it, that's really what makes a perfect team. I will always have that more entrenched in me from this year."