No. 2 Auburn Defeats No. 1 Georgia to be Named 2018 NCEA National Champions!
All photos courtesy of NCEA Equestrian.
By: Brittany Bevis
The “Ole’ South” rivalry of two SEC foes, Auburn Equestrian and Georgia Equestrian, was the headlining act today at the 2018 NCEA National Championships in Waco, Texas. But no matter which way the chips would fall, for the sixth straight year in a row, the Southern Equestrian Conference would have a representative take home the coveted title of National Champion. Overall, the SEC has 15 titles since the NCEA was sanctioned in 2002.
The battle began first thing Saturday morning with Equitation On The Flat with Ashton Alexander, Taylor St. Jacques, Hayley Iannotti, and Caitlin Boyle representing Auburn and Madison Newman, Grace Bridges, Addyson Cord, and Meredith Darst representing Georgia. Auburn dominated with a 4-0 sweep.
Next up was Horsemanship with Graysen Stroud, Bailey Anderson, Payton Anderson, and Samantha Johnson riding for Georgia and Taylor Searles, Kelsey Jung, Deanna Green, and Lauren Diaz riding for Auburn. The Tigers came out on top again- 2-1, resulting in a Auburn-6/Georgia- 1 match up at halftime.
However, Georgia fought back hard in Reining. Riding for the Bulldogs was Graysen Stroud, Kyndall Harper, Annabeth Payne, and Jordan Carpenter. Blair McFarlin, Terri June Granger, Betsy Brown, and Alexa Rivard rode for Auburn. Georgia won 3-1 resulting in a Auburn- 7/Georgia- 4 score going into the final round.
In Equitation Over Fences, the Tigers relied on rides from Hayley Iannotti, Caitlin Boyle, Taylor St. Jacques, and Ashton Alexander. Georgia sent out their best with Emma Mandarino, Addyson Cord, Ali Tritschler, and Meredith Darst. There was a bit of excitement in the Extraco Event Center when the facility lost power with Auburn leading Georgia 8-5 with only a few rides left to go. However, in the end, No. 2 seed Auburn continued their domination defeating No. 1 seed Georgia, 10-5, to win the 2018 NCEA National Championship!
Stay tuned for a complete recap here on EquineChronicle.com, as well as Event Championship results.
