AUBURN, Ala. – In the most recent National Collegiate Equestrian Association rankings released last week, the Auburn equestrian team holds the top spot in four of five categories.
"We continue to focus on working together as a team and continuing to get better," head coach Greg Williams said. "I am very proud of this team and their rankings, but am most proud of the reasons why they have held these positions. It's all because of their team first mentality over individualism, their accountability and their positive attitude and drive."
The Tigers continue to be No. 1 in the overall team ranking, held since the beginning of the season. Auburn stands at 10-0 overall with a 4-0 mark in the Southeastern Conference. In February, the Tigers outscored their opponents 82-10 and captured 19 of 20 possible MOPs over five meets.
In Hunter Seat competition, Auburn is ranked first in both Equitation on the Flat and Equitation Over Fences. In Flat, the squad went 22-2 in February and swept four-straight opponents – Delaware State (2/1), Fresno State (2/2), UT Martin (2/8) and South Dakota State (2/9). Freshman McKayla Langmeier is a perfect 8-0 in the event and classmate Emma Kurtz is 7-0. Seniors Hayley Iannotti and Ashton Alexander are 8-1 and 7-1, respectively.
The Fences corps put together a 21-3 performance in February and had sweeps vs. Delaware State, UTM and SDSU. Once again, Langmeier leads the crew with a 7-0 mark. Alexander stands at 8-1, while Iannotti is 7-1.
On the Western side, the Horsemanship corps is also No. 1 in the most recent NCEA rankings. Led by seniors Lauren Diaz and Kelsey Jung, the squad went 20-3-1 in February and picked up all five MOP honors. Three of those five were won by Diaz with the other two going to Jung and sophomore Taylor Searles.
Auburn's Reining squad came in at fourth in the most recent rankings. A trio of seniors in Ali Fratessa, Betsy Brown and Blair McFarlin guide the squad that finished February with an 18-3-3 record. Fratessa has a team-best eight wins on the season, while sophomore Deanna Green has seven. Brown and McFarlin have six each.
Auburn soon heads out on a long trip to Texas, March 1-2. The Tigers kick off the trip with another SEC contest, facing No. 4 Texas A&M, March 1, at 11 a.m. CT in College Station. The squad caps the trip at No. 2 SMU, March 2, squaring off with the Mustangs at 10 a.m. CT in Dallas.