No. 1 Auburn ready for 2026 NCEA Championships

AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 1 Auburn equestrian team is set to cap the 2025–26 season at the 2026 National Collegiate Equestrian Championships, taking place April 16-18 at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.

"The important thing about this week shouldn't necessarily be about pressure or expectation, but it should be about our opportunity to compete,” Auburn head coach Jessica Braswell said. “All the work we’ve put in and everything we’ve done all year has earned us an opportunity to compete for a national championship. Now it’s up to us to take that opportunity and do something great with it.”

The Tigers (9-3) earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and will face off against No. 8 seed Fresno State (7-5), April 16th at 7:30 a.m. CT. Auburn leads the all-time series 9-3 versus the Bulldogs and has won six straight meetings dating back to 2018.

“We’re excited to get to compete against a team that we haven't seen this year,” Braswell said. “Fresno State had a good year. They had some good wins in the Big 12. We expect them to come and be ready to go. It’s going to be a good meet on Thursday. I’m excited we get to go in the morning and be able to get up and go compete. We’re going to have to be at our best.”

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 AT NATIONALS
Auburn has won six NCEA national championships, with the most recent title coming in 2019.

The program’s first national title came in 2006, when the Tigers won the overall national championship, defeating Georgia in the Western and Jumping Seat disciplines.

From 2011 to 2019, Auburn secured five national titles, highlighted by back-to-back championships in 2018 and 2019.

The Tigers are seeking their first tournament win in Ocala since the 2023 NCEA championships and look to capture their seventh national title.

AUBURN LINEUP
The Auburn lineup will be very familiar as the team has found consistency this spring.

The Jumping Seat corps will feature four riders competing in both Fences and Flat. The group is led by SEC Flat Rider of the year Avery Glynn and SEC Co-Fences Rider of the Year Caroline Olsen. The freshman also won Freshman Rider of the Year in Flat and Fences.

Glynn was recently named NCEA First Team All-American in Flat, while Olsen also earned All-American honors in Fences. Each have 19 wins on the season with Glynn coming in at 10-2-0 on the Flat and 9-3-0 in Fences, while Olsen is 10-1-1 in Fences and 9-3-0 on the Flat.

Joining the pair in both events will be sophomores Kate Hagerty and Ariana Marnell. Marnell was selected for the All-SEC Fences team, is 9-4-0 in Fences and has six wins on the Flat this season. Hagerty is fourth on the team with seven wins in Fences so far.

Glynn and Marnell were recently named SEC Riders of the Month for March in Flat and Fences, respectively.

Sophomore Sadie Berkhout will compete on the Flat for the squad and enters the weekend with a 6-5-0 record in the event. Emily Jurnovoy was named SEC All-Freshman team and is set to ride in Fences, having three wins in her short season so far.

The Western crew will be led by a wealth of upperclassmen as senior Alexia Tordoff and junior Callie Hogg will ride in both Horsemanship and Reining. Tordoff has 15 wins this season with nine coming in Horsemanship. Hogg has 12 total on the year with six in each event.

Senior Caroline Fredenburg and juniors Brooke Jolstad and Sydney Swallom are set to ride in Horsemanship with Tordoff and Hogg. Fredenburg and Tordoff were named All-SEC in Horsemanship with Fredenburg having eight wins on the season. Jolstad and Tordoff have nine wins this year in the event and joined Fredenburg on the All-SEC team in Horsemanship.

Fredenburg, Jolstad, Tordoff and Swallom all secured All-America recognition in Horsemanship this season.

Reining will be led by Tordoff, Hogg and senior Caroline Buchanan. Buchanan was named SEC Rider of the Month for March and has the most wins in Reining for the Tigers with seven. Tordoff and Buchanan earned All-SEC honors in Reining.

Sophomore Michelle Fumagalli and freshman Sofia Tieche will also ride in Reining. Tieche earned SEC All-Freshman honors in Reining and has won two of her last three meets, bringing her season total to six. Fumagalli has four wins for the squad this year.