No. 1 Auburn equestrian returns to action Saturday at UT Martin

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team returns to competition Saturday, opening the spring schedule of the 2025-26 season on the road at UT Martin. The Tigers and the Skyhawks will face off at 10 a.m. CT in Martin, Tennessee at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex.

“It’s going to be a tough match up this weekend,” head coach Jessica Braswell said. “UT Martin is a gritty team that  works very hard and we’re going to have to be ready for that on Saturday.”

Auburn (5-1) is coming back into competition after a lengthy break between the two segments of a long regular season.

“We’re excited to be back,” Braswell said. “We had about seven weeks off between the end of the fall season and the beginning of our spring practice on the first day of class. I’m excited about where we’re at after a couple weeks of practice and am looking forward to what’s in store this second half of the year.”

The Tigers enter the spring as the No. 1 team nationally, earning that spot after defeating then-No. 2 South Carolina (Nov. 8) and then-No. 1 Georgia (Nov. 21) to close out the fall.

“I’m really proud of where we finished in the fall,” Braswell said. “Being the No. 1 team is always the goal, but what really matters is what we do in March and April. We’ve got a bigger target on our back now and we’ve got to be ready for it. We can still get a lot better as we progress through the rest of the season and it all starts this weekend.”

AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup features three seniors, four juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen vs. UT Martin.

The Jumping Seat side has four Tigers set to compete in both Fences and Flat. Leading the way is junior Avery Glynn, who is undefeated in both Fences (6-0-0) and Flat (6-0-0) this season. Joining her in both events will be sophomores Kate Hagerty and Ariana Marnell as well as freshman Caroline Olsen. Marnell and Olsen are both 5-1-0 in Fences so far, while Olsen is also 5-1-0 on the Flat for the Tigers.

Competing in Fences with the team will be freshman Emily Jurnovoy, making her second start of the year. Sophomore Sadie Berkhout will go on the Flat vs. the Skyhawks and enters the spring with a 4-1-0 mark in the event.

On the Western side, senior Alexia Tordoff and junior Callie Hogg will go in both Horsemanship and Reining on Saturday. Tordoff had a great start to her final year on the Plains and holds a 6-0-0 record in Horsemanship with a 3-2-1 mark in Reining. Hogg has four wins in Horsemanship for the squad.

Riding Horsemanship with the pair will be senior Caroline Fredenburg and juniors Brooke Jolstad and Sydney Swallom. Swallom is also undefeated in Horsemanship, standing at 6-0-0 overall. Fredenburg is 4-1-1, while Jolstad has three wins in the event.

In addition to Tordoff and Hogg, Reining will feature senior Caroline Buchanan, sophomore Michelle Fumagalli and freshman Sofia Tieche. Fumagalli and Buchanan each have three wins so far this year.

AUBURN-UT MARTIN SERIES
The Tigers are 20-0 vs. UT Martin in the series history, including 11-0 on the road against the Skyhawks.

The two teams met twice last year with Auburn taking a 14-6 victory at UT Martin in the fall (10/26/24) and an 11-6 win at home in the spring (2/8/25).

UP NEXT
The Tigers continue February on the road, traveling to SEC rival No. 3 South Carolina. Auburn and the Gamecocks will face off on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. CT in Blythewood, South Carolina at One Wood Farm Equestrian Center.