WACO, Texas – No. 3 Georgia edged out No. 4 SMU 9-7 to claim the 2021 NCEA National Championship title.
Georgia started the day on top with a 3-1 victory in Flat. Hayley Mairano opened with a 244-214 defeat over Madigan Eppink. Taylor Madden tied the event with a 254, the highest score in the event this week. Isabelle Heckler topped Madi Johnson 248-233 as the Bulldogs led 2-1. Wrapping up the event, Ali Tritschler upended Olivia Woodson 251-238 to lead 3-1.
The Mustangs tied things up in Horsemanship. Mallory Vroegh defeated Sara Lewis 220-209 to close the gap to one (3-2). Georgia’s Leah Anderson upended Nya Kearns 221-218.5 as the Bulldogs led 4-2. Aubrey Alderman and Megan Waldron both won their points to tie up the meet 4-4 at the halfway mark.
After Fences, Georgia led 7-5. SMU’s Olivia Woodson defeated Rachel McMullen 271-257 for the lone Mustang point. Haley Maraino tied the meet back up (5-5), until Ali Tritschler and Jordan Toering won their points with scores of 262 and 258, respectively, to win the event 3-1.
Closing out the day, the Mustangs and the Bulldogs split Reining, 2-2. Dani Latimer won the first point with a 223.5-219.5 victory over Caitlin Lyons. Georgia’s Lindsay Guynn edged Taylor Zimmerman by half a point (218-217.5) as UGA led 8-6. Aubrey Alderman upended Jordan Carpenter 219.5-197, forcing the meet to come down to the final point. Courtney Blumer claimed the last point of the day with a 214.5-211.5 victory.
