Auburn Equestrian Loses 8-12 to SMU in National Championship Tournament
I’m sure you’ve heard of Achilles - how as an infant, his mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him invincible. It worked… sorta. Achilles was invincible, everywhere but the heel that his mother held him by when she gave him that first bath. And as you probably know, almost-invincible Achilles went on to be one of the greatest heroes in the world… until he got fatally shot by an arrow in his not-invincible heel.
Auburn Equestrian has also been almost invincible this year, and Reining has been its Achilles heel.
How the Meet Went
Things started out good-but-not-great for Auburn. The first half featured Auburn’s best events: Equitation Over Fences and Horsemanship, so the plan was to build a big lead with those points, and smooth over any shortcomings that might pop up in the later events.
The uber-talented Tigers typically average about seven points in Fences and Horsemanship. Today, Auburn won each of them 3-2. Against a strong team like SMU, that’s pretty good. But it wouldn’t be good enough.
Auburn Freshman Sophee Steckback had the highest Fences score in the meet and continues to signal that even after the departure of several fifth-year seniors, the Tigers should still have a strong future overall. Senior Emma Kurtz and junior Ava Stearns earned Auburn’s other two Fences points.
The Horsemanship efforts were led by the usual trio of fifth-year Taylor Searles and Deanna Green, and junior Olivia Tordoff, who won Auburn’s three points in the event.
Up 6-4 at the half, Auburn hoped they could devalue their likely Reining deficiencies with a good showing on Equitation on the Flat. Auburn put up some decent Flat scores. SMU just put up better ones. Kurtz and Stearns won their Flat rides, but the remaining three points went to Mustangs riders.
So with Auburn’s lead now just 8-7 heading into Reining, the hope was that if Auburn could earn the two points they’ve averaged this season in the event, that would at least put them into a tiebreaker situation against the Mustangs.
That hope had a chance at working because SMU’s Reining squad is only the fifth-best in the tournament. Unfortunately, Auburn is the eighth-best.
Many of the tournament’s western events have been plagued with long delays for scores held up under review.
Auburn and SMU’s Reining event was slowed by several reviewed scores, and also by a strange stirrup equipment failure in the Baylor vs Texas A&M meet which halted all action as the judges conferred.
So Auburn’s hopes would have to die in slow agony for almost two hours as each needed Reining point was won by the opponent.
After SMU’s sweep of Reining, the final score was 11-8 Mustangs.
Not Many Answers For What Happened
As mentioned, Auburn’s Reining squad averaged a little over two points (out of a possible five) this season. And of course today, Auburn lost all five Reining points.
This same set of Auburn Reining riders averaged over four points per meet just last season.
How could these same riders go from leading the country in point production last year, to being one of the lowest-producing groups in 2022?
I’m sorry, but I don’t have an answer for you.
At the post-meet press conference, Head Coach Greg Williams didn’t have an immediate answer either. “These kinds of losses are just something I’d say the blame goes to me. I thought [our preparation] was good. I don’t know. We just didn’t have our best rides.”
How Will This Season Be Remembered?
Even with this loss, there’s no denying how good this year’s Auburn Equestrian team could be when they were riding their best. They earned a record fourth-straight SEC Championship. Considering how every equestrian national championship has been won by one of the four SEC teams that ride the sport, that’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.
But like Achilles, this season’s notoriety won’t just focus on the team's incredible talent, but probably also on the small weaknesses that made them almost invincible.
The Boxscore
Fences
Emma Kurtz (AU) def. Elli Yeager (SMU), 253-240
Taylor Madden (SMU) def. Ellie Ferrigno (AU, 241.5-224
Ava Stearns (AU) def. Alex Pielet (SMU), 254-246
Emma Jolly (SMU) def. Mary-Grace Segars (AU), 221.5-198
Sophee Steckbeck (AU) def. Devin Seek (SMU), 267-252
Flat
Miranda Seade (SMU) def. Ellie Ferrigno (AU), 233.5-223
Emma Kurtz (AU) def. Hensley Humphries (SMU), 239.5-230.5
Ava Stearns (AU) def. Madi Johnson (SMU), 232-231.5
Madigan Eppink (SMU) def. Helen Ulrich (AU), 238-230
Taylor Madden (SMU) def. Sophee Steckbeck (AU), 247-227.5
Horsemanship
Olivia Tordoff (AU) def. Payton Neiberger (SMU), 214-200
Deanna Green (AU) def. Mallory Vroegh (SMU), 220.5-204
Taylor Searles (AU) def. Lily Anderson (SMU), 224.5-221
Megan Waldron (SMU) def. Madison Parduhn (AU), 220.5-217
Nya Kearns (SMU) def. Maddie Spak (AU), 228-221
Reining
Dani Latimer (SMU) def. Isabella Tesmer (AU), 220.5-216.5
Chalyce Head (SMU) def. Taylor Searles (AU), 214-211.5
Taylor Zimmerman (SMU) def. Deanna Green (AU), 198-189.5
Jill Pfisthner (SMU) def. Boo Kammerer (AU), 213-208.5
Maria Richards (SMU) def. Terri-June Granger (AU), 208.5-207.5
Other Tournament Action
The other three quarterfinals were all won by the higher seeds.
#1 Oklahoma St defeated #8 Fresno St 12-8. The highlight of the day for the Bulldogs was their 4-1 victory in Horsemanship. The Cowgirls took the other three events, winning Fences 4-1, Flat 3-2, and Reining 4-1.
#3 Texas A&M defeated #6 Baylor 13-6. The Aggies did what Auburn wanted to do: build such a large first-half lead that any mistakes in Reining wouldn’t matter. A&M won Fences and Horsemanship 4-1 each. Then even after Baylor won Flat 3-2, the Aggies only needed a single point or a tie in Reining to win the day. Texas A&M actually won Reining 3-1, so the only drama at the end of their meet was how that aforementioned stirrup malfunction would be resolved. (They let her re-ride with new stirrups.)
#4 TCU defeated #5 Georgia 12-8. The Horned Frogs were able to cash in on the Bulldogs’ mistakes in Flat and Reining, winning each event 1-4. Georgia did win Fences and Horsemanship 3-2 each, but those were obviously not enough to overcome a TCU team that's been riding exceptionally well this spring.
Even with Auburn exiting the tournament early, I still plan to stick around.
Follow me on Twitter (@AuburnElvis) as we find out who takes home the 2022 College Equestrian National Championship.
Thankyouverymuch