Auburn Equestrian Upended at Georgia 7-11

The Tigers were unable to overcome their slow start Saturday and extended their losing streak to four straight.

Auburn’s road woes continued Saturday as the Tigers had trouble getting points all day. The Tigers’ Horsemanship squad was the lone bright spot as the rest of Auburn’s riders struggled to out-ride their opponents.

College Equestrian 101 - How Team Points Work

Each week this spring, I’ve added a section to help newcomers better understand the sport. This week’s topic is Team Points.

Varsity college equestrian uses a head-to-head format that matches one rider from a team up against one opponent from the other team. Each rider in that matchup will take a turn riding on a horse that’s been randomly assigned to them. Unlike sports like gymnastics or diving, the riders in equestrian meets compete by riding the same pattern in an event. Judges evaluate every ride and assign a score based on how well the rider executed the pattern. The two riders in a matchup have their judges’ scores compared, and the rider with the higher score wins a point for her team.

After all 20 pairs of riders have ridden, the team with the most team points wins the meet. If the team points are tied, the team with the highest combination of judges’ scores wins the tiebreaker.

How the Meet Went

The first event of the day was Equitation On the Flat. Georgia figured to be favored in most of the matchups here, so every Auburn point would be cause for celebration.

Auburn graduate Ava Stearns was the only Tiger that would garner celebrations in the event.

The 1-4 event score put Auburn into a hole they would fight to dig out of the rest of the gray, dreary Saturday.

The next event, Reining, has proven to be Auburn’s Achilles Heel of late, so showing well here was a priority for the Tigers.

The Tigers were able to match the Bulldogs point-for-point, as seniors Isabella Tesmer and Olivia Marino won their rides, and sophomore Caroline Buchanan earned a no-point tie.

Georgia held a commanding 6-3 lead at the half, but there was still a realistic path to victory for Auburn, but it would require the Tigers to dominate both remaining events

The matchups in the next event, Equitation Over Fences, looked promising. Even through their recent losing streak, Auburn has been able to lean on some strong Fences performances. But after Georgia posted the first three points, the Tigers knew their chances at a comeback disappeared.

Auburn’s Stearn earned a tie in her ride, and junior Sophee Steckbeck would take the team’s lone Fences point, as Georgia won the event 3-1.

Down 4-9, Auburn would need to sweep all five Horsemanship points to force an overall tiebreaker. But here again, the Tigers were undercut by exceptional Georgia riding.

Sophomore Caroline Fredenburg, along with freshmen Brooke Jolstad and Sydney Swallom delivered the 3-2 event win for Auburn as the Bulldogs celebrated the overall 11-7 victory.

During the post-meet award ceremony, Jolstead received Most Outstanding Performance in Horsemanship

What This Loss Means For Auburn

Auburn’s four-meet losing streak is one of the longest in the program’s history. Some of these disappointing outcomes can be attributed to a difficult schedule that ordered Auburn's four toughest road opponents one after the other. But with recent Auburn teams facing and overcoming similar challenges, it’s apparent that the days of Auburn winning in unparalleled fashion are over for now.

Fortunately for the Tigers, the road portion of their schedule is also over.

Up Next for Auburn

The schedule ahead for Auburn is more favorable. The Tigers will enjoy three straight dual-discipline home meets to close out the season.

The Tigers will host Dartmouth in a single discipline meet Friday, Feb 16 at 3, and then host UT Martin on Saturday at 11 am.

The Scoresheet

Auburn 7 - Georgia 11

FENCES:
Jennifer Staniloff (GA) def Avery Glynn (AU): 89-88
Tessa Brown (GA) def Ellie Ferrigno (AU): 81-78
*Catalina Peralta (GA) def Mary-Grace Segars (AU): 90-86
Ava Stearns (AU) tied Tessa Downey (GA): 88-88
Sophee Steckbeck (AU) def Emma Reichow (GA): 83-78

FLAT:
Ava Stearns (AU) def Nora Andrews (GA): 80-74
Isabella David (GA) def Mary-Grace Segars (AU): 87-84
Sophia Pilla (GA) def Avery Glynn (AU): 87-72
Jordan Toering (GA) def Alex Ryden (AU): 81-68
*Catalina Peralta (GA) def Ellie Ferrigno (AU): 90-85

HORSEMANSHIP:
Jillian Stopperich (GA) def Alexia Tordoff (AU): 74.5-72.5
Caroline Fredenburg (AU) def Grace Himes (GA): 74.5-73
*Brooke Jolstad (AU) def Jordan Davis (GA): 75-71.5
Sydney Swallom (AU) def Austin Layer (GA): 74.5-71
|Leah Anderson (GA) def Madison Parduhn (AU): 73-71

REINING:
Hannah Jane Lucas (GA) def Kate Buchanan (AU): 71.5-69.5
Caroline Buchanan (AU) tied Caitlin Lyons (GA): 69-69
Isabella Tesmer (AU) def Jax Bound (GA): 71-70.5
Shelby Lynch (GA) def Alexia Tordoff (AU): 69.5-68.5
Olivia Marino (AU) def Raegan Shepherd (GA): 70.5-70

*Event MOP"