AUBURN, Ala (EETV) - Auburn Equestrian, who is the two-time defending NCEA and SEC champion, begins the 2020-21 season ranked No.1 according to the National Collegiate Equestrian Association Preseason poll. The selection committee made the announcement Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers have held the top spot since the end of the 2017-18 season.
Other SEC schools on the list include South Carolina and Georgia at spots three and four and Texas A&M at seventh.
Auburn has a strong senior and junior class returning that have helped the Tigers remain undefeated in two seasons.
Athletes include Taylor St. Jacques, Taylor Searles, Deanna Green, Terri-June Granger, McKayla Langmeier and Emma Kurtz.
The Tigers returners have many accolades from last season. St. Jacques was the NCEA and SEC Flat Rider of the Year and Langmeier is the two-time defending NCEA Fences Rider of the Year. Green earned the NCEA and SEC Horsemanship Rider of the Year award and Grander finished the 2019-20 campaign as the SEC Reining Rider of the Year.
The Tigers have nine returning All-Americans. They are St. Jacques, Langmeier, Green, Searles, Granger, Langmeier, and Kurtz, as well as sophomores Olivia Tordoff and Ava Stearns.
Auburn will have a shortened three meet season this fall. They kick off their 2020-21 campaign this Friday, Oct. 16, at No. 3 South Carolina. They will go head-to-head at 9 a.m. CT in Blythewood, S.C., at One Wood Farm.
