April 3, 2007

Auburn - The defending national champion Auburn equestrian team hosts the fifth annual Southern Equestrian Championships on Friday and Saturday at the Auburn Equestrian Center beginning at 1 pm and 10 am, respectively. Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina each will be vying for the title as admission is free.

Auburn (7-5) and South Carolina (9-2) will go head to head on Friday after splitting their previous two meetings this season. The Tigers are 2-0 in western against the Gamecocks and 0-2 in hunt seat.

"It is hard to focus on one game at a time as you would like to do because we are worried about everything going smoothing," said Auburn head coach Greg Williams. "South Carolina is extremely good. Their hunt seat team is the best in the country. They have been undefeated, but our girls can beat them.

"We have beaten them in raw scores before. We just have to get it head to head. Not only do we need to beat them in western, I think that we need to count on making our cushion with the western riders. If our hunt seat team doesn't win, we will keep it close with our western rides."

Georgia (8-2) earned a bye to the championship round as the Bulldogs will face the Auburn-South Carolina winner Saturday at 10 am. The Bulldogs are 2-0 against the Tigers and split a pair of meetings with the Gamecocks this season.

The last time Auburn won the Southern Equestrian Championships was in 2004 when it hosted the event for the first time. The Tigers have finished third in the past two championships with Georgia winning in both 2005 and 2006.

"We are not looking to win just because we are hosting," said Williams. "South Carolina has beaten Georgia, and we have run them close. We've tied Georgia in the hunt seat, and we've beaten South Carolina on the western. It is anybody's game. Georgia just has the luxury of only having to win once. Other than that, it is even."

The competition will follow the same format of the regular season dual meets with five riders from each team competing head to head for the highest score to accumulate points in each of the four categories. The meet will begin with equitation on the flat and western reining competing simultaneously, followed by equitation over fences and western horsemanship after a short break.

Competing for Auburn in hunt seat will be Chelsea Anheuser, Jessica Braswell, Katie Breedlove, Natalie Burton, Lauren Hulen, Jenny Reinhart, Rebecca Rifkin and Maggie White.

For the Tigers in western will be Julie Gibbes, Ashley Griffith, Jessica Jones, Lyndsey Jordan, Whitney Kimble, Ashley Milton and Kimberly Tidwell. Riding reserve for Auburn will be Ashley Dickerson and Kylie Miller.

"I think that we are set up well to take on South Carolina," said Gibbes, who is one of the top reiners in the nation. "South Carolina is strong, but we have beaten them on the western side twice and over all once, and we can do it again. Both our western and hunt seat sides are strong. Either side is ready to push the other to compete against Georgia. You just have to prepare like you are going to make it and you have to want to win."

Competing in hunt seat for South Carolina will be Carly Babcock, Nicole Bourgeois, Kelley Campbell, Carly Johns, Sarah Lowe, Megan Massaro, Lindsey Pace, Sarah Stephens, Kristen Terebesi and in reserve will be Alex Haskell.

On the western end for the Gamecocks will be Katy Biffle, Allison Bradley, Katie Grossnickle, Kristina Papendick, Rebekah Roof, Rachel Sternoff, Lindsey Williams and in reserve will be Amy Biffle.

Directions to the Auburn Equestrian Center from I-85:Take exit 51 North towards Auburn. Go through two stop lights. At the third traffic light at University (Shug Jordan Pkwy), turn LEFT. Travel approx. 1-2 miles on University. At first traffic light, Wire Road, turn LEFT. Go through one traffic light (entrance to Vet School). Immediately begin looking LEFT. Horse Center driveway is 50-100 yards from light on the LEFT denoted by white fencing and an Auburn Horse Unit sign.