Baylor

Casie Maxwell enters her ninth season as head coach at Baylor and her 16th season as a collegiate equestrian head coach in 2025-26.

Maxwell, who was selected to lead the program in July 2017, finished the 2024-25 season with a career record of 94-126, after previously going 51-60 at Kansas State over seven seasons and posting a 43-66 mark in eight campaigns at Baylor. In addition to serving as a figurehead for Baylor Equestrian, Maxwell specializes in the Reining event of the Western discipline, while assistant coaches also work with the program.

The Bears had another great year of growth under Maxwell, earning a dominant Senior Day win versus a top-three opponent in TCU, the most NCEA All-Academic team athletes since 2021, and multiple Big 12 and NCEA monthly awards. Madison Mitchell earned February Big 12 Fences Rider of the Month after earning both NCEA and Big 12 awards for December. Baylor improved to 5-7 on the season with multiple impactful wins over top-10 teams. The Bears had an impressive March with three wins, leading to Alexis Rutledge earning Big 12 Co-Rider of the Month for Horsemanship, also earning the honor outright in February.  BU earned multiple Big 12 yearly honors with Lauren Reid being named to the All-Big 12 Flat Team, Lauren Jorgensen to the All-Big 12 Fences Team, and Alexis Rutledge earning Big 12 Horsemanship Rider of the Year, a first for the program since 2023, before being named Ariat NCEA First Team All-America. 

In the 2023-24 season, the Bears saw great strides in team camaraderie and connection, as well as having two Baylor greats named to the NCEA's inaugural Hall of Fame Class in rider Samantha Schaefer and former administrator Nancy Post. The Bears hosted the 2024 Big 12 Championships, earning third place with a win over Fresno State after a close loss to TCU in the first round. Baylor had a record of 3-11 on the season but saw huge improvements with an 11-8 win over No. 5 Georgia in January with Lauren Reid, Madison Mitchell and Riley Cachat earning Big 12 Rider of the Month awards. The team earned 40 NCEA academic honors for the season, and Reid (Fences) and Mitchell (Flat) earned All-Big 12 honors. They both also earned NCEA Rider of the Month awards for March. Maxwell's Reiners won their event in two meets, tying in three of them.

During the 2022-23 athletic season, Maxwell guided the Bears to a 6-10 record and ranked as high as No. 7 in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) poll. Baylor finished as national quarterfinalists after a narrow defeat to eventual national champion SMU, 10-8, in postseason play, and placed third at the 2023 Big 12 Championship after going 1-1 with a close loss to Oklahoma State, 12-8, and a dominating 16-4 victory over Fresno State. 

Under Maxwell’s tutelage, BU collected three wins over ranked opponents, including the second upset over a No. 1-ranked squad during her tenure with a 12-7 victory over TCU on Oct. 21, 2022. The Bears also matched a program-best with 12 combined Rider of the Month honors from the NCEA and Big 12 Conference.

2023 marked the third-consecutive season with a National Rider of the Year for BUEQ, as senior Dominika Silvestri broke the program record for wins in a Flat season with 14 and garnered national recognition in the event from the NCEA. Silvestri was also tabbed the Big 12 Flat Rider of the Year and joined Madaline Callaway (Reining), Jenna Meimerstorf (Reining), Madison Mitchell (Flat), Annie Vorhies (Flat) and Maddie Vorhies (Flat) as all-conference performers. Silvestri (Flat, First Team) and Mitchell (Flat, Honorable Mention) were also named NCEA All-Americans, the 19th and 20th All-America honorees of the Maxwell era.

For the seventh-straight season, Maxwell coached the league’s leading squad in academic honors, as 25 student-athletes were named to the 2023 Academic All-Big 12 squad and another 41 Bears were named to the APHA NCEA All-Academic Teams and Academic Honor Roll.

In the 2021-22 season, Maxwell led the Bears to a No. 6 final national ranking and an NCEA quarterfinals appearance. She guided BU to a 7-8 overall record and a third-place finish in the Big 12 after going 1-1 at the 2022 Big 12 Championship. The Bears collected five wins over ranked opponents on the year, including a season-opening 13-6 win at No. 10 UT Martin which included a full sweep of events and a shutout in Horsemanship.

Under Maxwell’s oversight, five Bears were named NCEA All-Americans in Jenna Meimerstorf (First Team, Reining), Andie Pratt (First Team, Reining), Shelby Clausen (Second Team, Reining), Marley Mainwaring (Second Team, Horsemanship) and Caroline Fuller (Honorable Mention, Fences). Additionally, Pratt was named the NCEA’s Reining Co-Rider of the Year, the program’s second all-time national award recipient and first in Reining. Furthermore, Pratt was named the Big 12 Reining Rider of the Year and was joined by Fuller (Fences and Flat), Mainwaring (Horsemanship) and Clausen (Reining) on the All-Big 12 Teams.

For the sixth-consecutive season, Baylor led the Big 12 with 25 Academic All-Conference selections. BU also garnered 33 selections to the NCEA All-Academic teams and Academic Honor Roll under Maxwell’s tutelage.

In the abbreviated 2020-21 season, Maxwell led the Bears to an NCEA Semifinals appearance after an upset of No. 1 Auburn, snapping the Tigers’ 42-meet win streak. Maxwell guided the Bears through the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced postponements and rescheduling of multiple meets. But, the Bears were able to overcome the adversity and produce their best rides toward the end of the season, finishing with a strong Senior Day performance and 1-1 showing at the Big 12 Championship, including a 13-7 victory over Fresno State.

Maxwell coached three NCEA All-Americans in 2020-21, including National Flat Rider of the Year Rachael Davis, as well as three All-Big 12 selections. Additionally, 48 Bears received NCEA academic honors, while a league-leading 30 BU student-athletes landed on the Academic All-Big 12 Team.

Before the season was cut short, Maxwell and the Bears went 5-8 in the 2019-20 season. Trekking through a difficult schedule that featured 10 ranked opponents in 13 meets, the Bears knocked off two top-five opponents and recorded a 4-1 record at home. The Bears earned three NCEA All-America selections while Rachael Davis repeated as Big 12 Flat Rider of the Year.

The 2018-19 season was the most successful year under Maxwell’s watch where the team compiled a 9-5 overall record and clinched the program’s fourth Big 12 title. The team also recorded a 6-1 record at home, earned three Big 12 Rider of the Year honors and five NCEA All-America accolades. During the postseason, the horsemanship team advanced to the NCEA event semifinals for the second consecutive year.

In year one at Baylor, the Bears rallied for ranked wins over No. 5 Auburn and No. 7 TCU. The win over the Tigers was the first win over a ranked opponent for the Bears under Maxwell and the victory over the Horned Frogs extended BU’s regular-season win streak over TCU to nine.

Maxwell’s expertise with the Western side paid off at the NCEA National Championships. While the team suffered a quarterfinals loss to No. 2 Auburn, both the reining and horsemanship advanced out of the opening rounds, with the horsemanship squad falling to Auburn by just 1.5 points on a 2-2 (581.5-580) raw scores tiebreaker.

Maxwell joined the Bears after spending the previous decade at K-State, serving as the head coach from July 2009 until June 2016, when the program was discontinued by the athletic department. Temporarily transitioning from coaching, Maxwell stayed at K-State as a compliance specialist for the following year before joining the Baylor family.

“I am honored and so excited to continue my coaching career at Baylor University,” Maxwell said. “Coaching has a special place in my heart and I am so grateful for the opportunity to contribute to a shared mission of turning these great student-athletes into strong, successful women, all within Baylor’s faith-based caring community. I cannot wait to get back into the arena and get started coaching the talented student-athletes who have chosen Baylor for their collegiate careers.”

Maxwell led the Wildcats as the head coach, taking over the reins in July 2009 after spending the previous two years as co-head coach. She saw great success at the helm of the program, coaching the western team to three reserve titles, posting 17 All-Americans, two national riders of the year, and twice was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year.

“I have greatly missed being a part of the lives of student-athletes over this past year, so I look forward to this opportunity to push Baylor Equestrian to its highest level,” Maxwell said. “Coach (Ellen) White and her staff have worked extremely hard to establish a solid program since its start in 2004. I know I am stepping into a program with a great foundation and significant support both inside and outside of the arena.”

Maxwell got her start in coaching as the western assistant at Kansas State in August 2006.

Prior to joining the Wildcats, Maxwell enjoyed a stellar career as a student-athlete and member of the four-time Western National Champions squad at Texas A&M, posting top-four finishes in horsemanship and reining in 2005 in her senior campaign. She took a fifth season to stay with the Aggies as a student coach during the 2005-06 season before moving on to K-State the following year.

Maxwell and her husband, Bailey, have a son, Tatum, and four daughters, Brekyn, Rylan, Trystan and Paityn.

THE MAXWELL FILE 
PERSONAL 
Family: husband, Bailey; children: son, Tatum, and daughters, Brekyn, Rylan, Trystan and Paityn.

EDUCATION 
College: Texas A&M, 2006 (B.S., Animal Science)

PLAYING EXPERIENCE 
Texas A&M (2001-2005), Western

COACHING EXPERIENCE 
2005-2006 Texas A&M (student assistant) 
2006-2007 Kansas State (assistant western) 
2007-2009 Kansas State (co-head coach) 
2009-2016 Kansas State (head coach)
2017-pres. Baylor (head coach)

COACHING HONORS 
2015 Big 12 Co-Coach of the Year (Kansas State)
2016 Big 12 Coach of the Year (Kansas State)

POSTSEASON EXPERIENCE 
2002 NCEA Western National Champions (Texas A&M, student-athlete) 
2003 NCEA Western National Champions (Texas A&M, student-athlete) 
2004 NCEA Western National Champions (Texas A&M, student-athlete) 
2005 NCEA Western National Champions (Texas A&M, student-athlete) 
2010 NCEA Western Reserve Champions (Kansas State, head coach) 
2011 NCEA Western Reserve Champions (Kansas State, head coach) 
2013 NCEA Western Reserve Champions (Kansas State, head coach)

THE MAXWELL WORKSHEET (head coaching record)