No. 8 EQ Pulls Massive Upset over No. 1 Auburn to Advance in NCEA National Championship

Thursday, April 15

Waco, Texas

10:00 a.m.

Baylor

Auburn

No. 8 EQ Pulls Massive Upset over No. 1 Auburn to Advance in NCEA National Championship

4/15/2021 6:23:00 PM | Equestrian

Results (PDF)

Bears moving on to national semifinals, will face No. 4 SMU

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Because of a glitch in the live scoring, Baylor equestrian coach Casie Maxwell thought her eighth-seeded Bears' upset bid against top-seeded and two-time defending national champion Auburn had come up short.
            "We were standing in the holding area in the Western arena, and I kind of pulled the reining group together and had a last-minute pep talk with them, and then we had to turn right around, because we had horses going in the next set," Maxwell said. "We had a little bit of a downer, and then all of a sudden, discovered we won. That brought us up really quick. I'm still trying to get my heart rate down a little bit."
            This turned out to be a heart-stopping and monumental win by the Bears (3-7), who snapped Auburn's 42-meet winning streak dating back to 2018 by handing the Tigers an 8-7 loss in Thursday's NCEA National Championship quarterfinals at the Extraco Events Center.
            Auburn (8-1) had won the two previous national championships and was favored to win this year after the 2020 meet was canceled by COVID-19.
            "Honestly, it's pretty surreal," said sophomore Savannah Hemby, who got the clinching point with a head-to-head victory over Auburn's McKayla Langmeier in the final fences ride, 254-246. "We went into this just wanting to have fun and ride well. To beat such a highly-ranked seed with so many undefeated meets in a row, it's just an absolute surreal feeling."
            Maxwell, whose team moved up a spot in the final NCEA rankings with a win over Fresno State in the Big 12 Championships, said she was getting ready to bring a new set of horses into the arena the next round of competition when she heard her team cheering in the stands.
            "We thought they were cheering for someone else who had won. We literally had no idea they were cheering for us," Maxwell said. "It kind of stopped everybody's heart. It was so exciting, though, to see everybody rush over to you. This was so well-deserved. Everybody had a rough year, not just us. It was just a nice place to be today after how tough this spring season has been."
            With the flat and horsemanship disciplines going in the morning, Baylor and Auburn found themselves in a surprising neck-and-neck battle. The Bears earned a split in flat, getting points from Gia Gulino and All-American Rachael Davis.
            In horsemanship, Clara Johnson and Gabrielle Marty got wins for Baylor, with Katie Davis tying Auburn's Deanna Green with a 229 score on Chili.
            "Rachael Davis on the flat, obviously, you kind of expect it from her," Maxwell said. "But, she just went out there and was solid as could be, as she has been all year. . . . . Clara Johnson in horsemanship, first rider in the pen today, just walked out and laid it out there today. That should have gotten her a little bit shaken, but she set the tone for the day."
            Leading 4-3 at the halfway mark, sophomore Jenna Meimerstorf said the message was "just go out there for the second half and come back stronger."
            "At the half, we were all like, 'OK, we've got this,''' Hemby said. "Coach Maxwell got us really hyped up, and I think that really helped us pull through. Auburn's Jump Seat is absolutely incredible, so we just went in and had fun."
            Baylor managed to split both reining and fences in the second half, getting points from Meimerstorf and Madaline Callaway in reining. Going down to the last rides in the Hunt Seat arena, the Bears clinched it with the winning rides from Caroline Fuller and Hemby.
            "At first, the score was off, just because of the live feed mishap," Meimerstorf said. "But then, once we found out, it was just absolutely insane. We were all just so excited."
In the blink of the eye, the mindset changed from "wanting to have fun," to potentially winning the program's first overall NCEA national championship. Baylor won a Hunt Seat national championship and finished third overall in 2011.
            "It almost feels like we, in a sense, won the national championship," Hemby said, "because we beat the team that had won it for two years in a row. Moving on to (Friday) and hopefully Saturday, we're definitely going to go for that ring and that top spot."
            Baylor faces fourth-seeded SMU and No. 2 seed Oklahoma State takes on third-seeded Georgia in Friday's semifinals at 10 a.m., with the winners advancing to Saturday's final.
            "I don't think they need to change anything tomorrow," Maxwell said. "You don't want to try to be somebody different tomorrow. Today worked, so do more of the same. That's what we told them in the second half. Make small tweaks to your game plan and adjust to your horses. I think the big thing in our favor today is just that boost of confidence. And they should all be feeling that."

THE RUNDOWN
WACO, Texas – No. 8-seed Baylor equestrian pulled a massive upset over No. 1 Auburn on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the NCEA National Championship at Extraco Events Center in Waco.

The Bears (3-7) defeated the top-ranked Tigers (8-1) 8-7, snapping Auburn's 42-meet win streak that dated back to 2018.

Following an impressive 13-7 win against No. 5 Fresno State in the consolation match of the Big 12 Championship, Baylor carried its momentum into the postseason contest and got out of the gates hot with a 2-1 event win in Horsemanship, while simultaneously tying in Flat 2-2.

Katie Davis scored a 229 in BU's Horsemanship event, earning the highest total overall in the event and tying her point, which would prove immensely critical. Clara Johnson and Gabrielle Marty were the two point-winners for BU.

In Flat, Rachael Davis continued her undefeated streak by scoring a 240 en route to winning her point for the Bears. Gia Gulino also collected a point for Baylor, sending BU into halftime leading 4-3.

After the break, BU showed no signs of slowing down by collecting two points apiece in Fences and Reining. In Fences, Davis was once again the top rider for the Bears with a score of 260, though she was edged by Auburn's Taylor St. Jacques by just one point. However, Caroline Fuller and Savannah Hemby won their points to even the event and keep BU ahead.

Meanwhile in Reining, Jenna Meimerstorf led Baylor with a 220.5 score and won her point, as did Madaline Callaway with a 218.5. Another event tie was good enough to clinch the meet for the Bears, sending BU on to the national semifinals to face off against No. 4 SMU on Friday.

NOTABLES
• Baylor snapped Auburn's 42-meet win streak, which dated back to 2018.
• Baylor earned its third win against a ranked opponent this season.
• The Bears won Horsemanship outright for the third time this season.
• Rachael Davis improved to 10-0 this year in Flat with a 240-236 win.
• Savannah Hemby improved to 8-1-1 in Fences with a match-clinching 254-246 victory.
• Katie Davis scored an equivalent season-best 229 in Horsemanship.

STAT OF THE MEET
1 – Baylor defeated the No. 1-ranked Auburn Tigers to advance to the NCEA national semifinals.

TOP QUOTES
Head coach Casie Maxwell…
On today's win…
"It's been an amazing day. We told the girls, it's going to take every ride and it's going to take every step, it's going to take everything that they've got. And they did that, they fought to the very end. I'm still trying to get my heart rate down a little bit, but definitely so excited for this team. Postseason is its own game."

Sophomore Jenna Meimerstorf…
On what this win meant and her performance today…
"Absolutely incredible. We came in today with high spirits and just went out there and gave our best. We left everything in the arena. It was great. The coaches told me to go out there and have fun. Really, I've just been working a lot on specific parts of the pattern and just perfecting my ride. So going out there and being able to just completely fulfill that and just put it all together felt great."

WHAT'S NEXT
No. 8 Baylor (3-7) will compete in a semifinal matchup with the No. 4 SMU Mustangs (9-1) on Friday, April 16, with the first events scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. CT.

To stay up to date throughout the season on all things Baylor equestrian, follow the team on Facebook (Baylor Equestrian), Twitter (@BaylorEQ) and Instagram (@BaylorEquestrian).

-BaylorBears.com-