AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team continues spring action on the road, traveling to rival and No. 3 Georgia for a Saturday contest, Feb. 8. The Tigers and the Bulldogs will face off at 12 p.m. CT in Bishop, Ga., at the UGA Equestrian Complex.
"Georgia is always a really tough competitor for us," head coach Greg Williams said. "Georgia is coming off a tough loss at Texas A&M last week so they will be ready to ride hard and get every point they can. We've been riding with extreme precision though, so we just need to ride to win and not just ride well."
AUBURN LINEUP
Auburn's (9-0, 3-0 SEC) lineup at Georgia (4-3, 1-3 SEC) features one senior, four juniors, three sophomores and seven freshmen.
The Jumping Seat squad is led by junior Taylor St. Jacques and sophomores McKayla Langmeier and Emma Kurtz. Langmeier has 17 wins in the discipline, including a team-best nine victories in Flat. Kurtz is second on the team with 16 victories and a team-high nine in Fences. St. Jacques has 13 wins on the year and was recently named the NCEA Fences Rider of the Month.
Sophomore Meghan Knapic and freshmen Ava Stearns and Paige Matthies will also compete for the Tigers against the Bulldogs. Knapic has been very successful in Fences and is tied for second on the team with eight wins in the event. Stearns has had a solid first season on the Plains, having 10 wins overall, while Matthies is exceling on Flat for the squad.
The Horsemanship lineup has remained the same most of the season with senior Kara Kaufmann and juniors Deanna Green and Taylor Searles leading the way. Green recently earned a 78 at nationally-ranked Fresno State last weekend, while Searles was named the NCEA Horsemanship Rider of the Month.
The trio will be joined by Olivia Tordoff and Maddie Spak, who have had outstanding freshmen seasons so far. Tordoff is second on the team with seven wins, while Spak has five wins and a 77 under her belt.
Auburn's reining corps is a mixture of experience with freshmen talent. Green is joined by classmate Terri-June Granger in experience as the pair leads AU with seven and six wins on the season,
respectively. Three freshmen in Jen Kasper, Boo Kammerer and Kayla Shelnutt are also slated to compete. Kasper picked up two key wins on the road last weekend for the Tigers and Shelnutt has one of the team's top scores in the event so far (76).
SERIES HISTORY
Georgia leads the series, 30-17, with an 11-4 record in Bishop.
Auburn is on a five-meet win streak that includes victories over Georgia in the 2018 and 2019 national championship matches. The Tigers have also won three straight on the road vs. the Bulldogs.
The two squads last met in the fall season finale, Nov. 15, with Auburn earning a 16-4 victory at the Auburn University Equestrian Center.
UP NEXT
The Tigers return to the Plains for three meets to close out the regular season, starting with a contest against nationally-ranked Baylor, Feb. 15. Auburn and the Bears will go head-to-head at 11 a.m. CT at the Auburn University Equestrian Center.