AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 2 Auburn equestrian team will close out the 2024-25 season at the 2025 National Collegiate Equestrian Association Championships, April 17-19, in Ocala, Florida at the World Equestrian Center.
“This team has been great in practice and coaches Mary Meneely and Emma Kurtz have done an outstanding job getting this team prepared,” head coach Jessica Braswell said. “We’re really excited to be here and I’ve talked to them about living in the moment and appreciating the opportunity to compete for a national championship. It’s going to be a great week of competition and it’s going to be tough, but I know this team is ready.”
The Tigers (11-3) are the No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face No. 7 seed Georgia, April 17 at 1:30 p.m. CT. The squad has their eyes on the program’s seventh national crown this week.
“Georgia is a great team and this is a hard quarterfinal draw for the both of us,” Braswell said. “We compete in the SEC all year and every meet is tough so we know what we’re up against. It should be a really good meet and we’re going to have to put it all together in all four events on the same day. We have to start fast and get out to a quick start and we’re more than capable of doing that.”
Fans can find all things nationals, including live scoring links, live stream links, schedule of events and results on the tournament central page found HERE.
AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup remains consistent as the Tigers look to bring another championship back to the Plains.
The Jumping Seat squad will be led by sophomore and recent SEC Fences Rider of the Year Avery Glynn, fifth year and All-American Ellie Ferrigno as well as senior All-Americans Mary-Grace Segars and Sophee Steckbeck as the four will compete in both Fences and Flat.
Glynn was recently named NCEA First Team All-American in Fences and stands at 12-0-0 in the event. She is also 6-3-3 on the Flat and earned All-America Honorable Mention in the event.
Ferrigno is 18-8-0 between Fences and Flat, including a 10-3-0 mark in Fences. Segars has a 19-8-1 overall record with a 10-4-0 mark in Fences and a 9-4-1 record in Flat. Steckbeck has nine wins in Fences.
Freshman Kate Hagerty is set to go in Fences with a 9-1-0 record and was recently named the SEC Freshman Fences Rider of the Year. Classmate Ariana Marnell will ride on the Flat and the pair of newcomers earned SEC All-Freshman honors for their efforts so far.
The Western corps will be led by a handful of upperclassmen, including junior Alexia Tordoff. The Powell, Ohio native and All-American will ride in both Horsemanship and Reining, having a 21-5-2 record between the two events. She’s 12-2-0 in Horsemanship and 9-3-2 in Reining. In addition, she was named the SEC Horsemanship Rider of the Year and earned All-America and All-SEC honors in both events.
Joining Tordoff in Horsemanship will be classmate and All-American Caroline Fredenburg and sophomores Callie Hogg, Brooke Jolstad and Sydney Swallom. Jolstad, who earned All-America honors in the event this year, along with Fredenburg and Hogg have eight wins.
Reining will be led by experienced riders Tordoff, fifth year Olivia Bradley and junior Caroline Buchanan. Buchanan has eight wins on the year and was named All-SEC, while Bradley has seven.
Hogg and freshman Michelle Fumagalli will ride in Reining for the squad as well. Fumagalli, the SEC Freshman Reining Rider of the Year, is second on the team with eight wins.