Rodeo Daily

Storylines Abound as a New College Equestrian Season Prepares to Begin

Sustaining success, returning talent and significant changes highlight the start of the 2024-25 NCEA campaign.

Alex Riley

The 2024-25 NCEA season officially opens on Friday as teams from around the country begin the quest for dual and single discipline national titles.
The 2024-25 NCEA season officially opens on Friday as teams from around the country begin the quest for dual and single discipline national titles. / Photos courtesy of Oklahoma State and Texas A&M

A rivalry rematch of last year’s national championship? Not a bad way to start a season. 

On Friday, Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex foes TCU and SMU face off in the first National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) competition of the 2024-25 season. The Horned Frogs and Mustangs finished last year as the top two programs in the NCEA dual discipline rankings, with SMU pulling out a 12-7 win in Ocala, Fla., to claim a second straight title. 

Over the following two weekends, the other NCEA programs will open their schedules as the fall slate officially gets underway. 

Before the action starts, here are some significant storylines and names to remember heading into the new NCEA season. 

Continued dominance or new blood?

Repeat has been a commonly used word across the NCEA the last several years, starting with the dual and single discipline national champions. 

SMU has secured back-to-back dual discipline crowns, marking the first time there has been a repeat dual champion since Auburn in 2018-19. Since the single discipline championship was established in 2021, Lynchburg has been the standard setter, competing in all three finales with two straight trophies to show for it.  

But dominance isn’t solely with national titles on the line. 

In the SEC, Auburn has won six straight league titles. Oklahoma State has earned four consecutive Big 12 crowns. And even UC Davis has back-to-back Eastern College Athletic Conference titles to their credit. 

Whether or not the reigning champs can be unseated has yet to be determined, but there is no shortage of teams ready to contend. 

Changing of the guard

If SMU intends to win a third straight NCEA dual discipline title, it will do so under new leadership. 

Back in May, South Carolina announced it had poached former Mustang coach Carol Gwin for a return to Columbia. Gwin previously served as an assistant from 2010-14 under legendary Gamecock coach Boo Major before moving to Dallas for 10 seasons. 

While leading SMU, Gwin won those two national titles to go along with a pair of NCEA Dual Discipline Coach of the Year honors. Major retired after 26 seasons helming the South Carolina program since its inception, winning three national crowns. 

SMU didn’t have to look far for a replacement, promoting Western discipline coach Brad Kearns to oversee the entire program. Kearns has been working with the Mustangs for three seasons, earning NCEA Western Coach of the Year last spring. 

There was only one other coaching change among NCEA dual discipline programs. Former assistant Kamerra Brown returns to South Dakota State to helm the program.

A former standout at Delaware State, Brown got her start in coaching as a graduate assistant with SDSU before transitioning to a full-time assistant with the team from 2010-14. For the last four years, she has been a hunter/jumper instructor and assistant professor for equine studies at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo. 

Back for more

Of the 20 first-team All-American slots awarded last year, 12 are back for the upcoming season, including four of the five from the fences category.  

Headlining that group is two-time NCEA Fences Rider of the Year Augusta Iwasaki from SMU. Now a junior, Iwasaki has two national titles already, with a career record of 22-6 in fences. 

Joining her is SMU graduate student Nya Kearns. The 2024 NCEA Horsemanship Rider of the Year is looking for one last round of dominance. In four previous seasons, the Mustang standout has a combined 46-7-1 record in Horsemanship matchups, with a program-record 20 Most Outstanding Performer honors already to her credit. 

After finishing runner-up last season, TCU gets some crucial pieces back, starting with grad student Shea Graham. The Big 12 Reining Rider of the Year, Graham was the only student-athlete to earn first-team All-American honors in both reining and horsemanship after going a combined 24-2-6 overall last season. 

The Horned Frogs also return first-team All-Americans in Ashleigh Scully (reining), Lilly Goldstein (flat) and Jessica McAllister (horsemanship). 

Some other names to keep an eye on this season: Texas A&M senior reiner Mattie Gustin; Auburn senior fences rider Sophee Steckeck; UT Martin senior horsemanship rider Lexi Bailey; Lynchburg senior fences rider Fallyn Belcastro. 

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Alex Riley

ALEX RILEY

Alex Riley is a writer for Sports Illustrated's feature, Rodeo Daily. Formerly working at news outlets in South Carolina, Texas, Wyoming and North Carolina, Alex is an award-winning writer and photographer who graduated from the University of South Carolina.

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