AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 2 Auburn equestrian team won four SEC Rider of the Year awards and seven Tigers were honored by the Southeastern Conference for their efforts this season as the league announced its postseason awards Tuesday.
"SEC honors are the pinnacle to me," head coach Greg Williams said. "Having this many Auburn athletes getting recognized is simply amazing. This is the hardest conference to compete in and this team has worked so hard. I'm so proud of them as well as coaches Jessica Braswell and Mary Meneely who got them there."
Auburn took home two Rider of the Year awards and finished with two Freshman Rider of the Year accolades
In addition, Williams was selected as the Coach of the Year for the fourth straight season. Under his guidance, Auburn won its fourth consecutive SEC Championship in March.
Fifth year Taylor Searles was named the league's Horsemanship Rider of the Year for the second straight season. The first team All-American from Scottsdale, Arizona is 11-1-1 on the year in the event and finished the regular season with a 5-0-1 mark against SEC opponents.
Searles was placed on the All-SEC team for Horsemanship as well as Reining. She put together an 8-4-0 mark in Reining for the Tigers, having three wins in the event vs. the conference.
Senior Emma Kurtz was awarded the Fences Rider of the Year after going 13-2-1 on the season with three MOPs. The Hudson, Ohio product put together 4-2-0 mark in the SEC. In addition, she went undefeated at the SEC Championships, earning MOP in the event vs. Georgia in the semifinal.
Kurtz was placed on the All-SEC team for Fences as well as Flat. She holds an 11-4-1 mark in the event and also went undefeated with an MOP at the SEC Championship.
Sophee Steckbeck rounded out the individual awards for the Tigers and was named the Freshman Flat and Fences Rider of the Year. The Clarksburg, New Jersey native went 17-13-1 overall in Jumping Seat action, having nine wins in Flat and eight in Fences. She has four MOPs in Fences with two in Flat.
In addition, Steckbeck was placed on the SEC All-Freshman teams for Fences and Flat.
Joining Searles on the All-SEC team in Horsemanship was junior Olivia Tordoff and sophomore Madison Parduhn. Tordoff is second on the team with 10 wins and has eight MOPs on the season. Parduhn is third on the squad with nine wins in the event and earned MOP on the road at Texas A&M in November.
Junior Ava Stearns and sophomore Ellie Ferrigno were also honored and placed on both the Fences and Flat All-SEC teams. Stearns has a team-best 25 wins on the year with 13 in Flat and 12 in Fences. Ferrigno has a 23-5-3 overall record, having 12 Fences victories and 11 in Flat.
