The University of Georgia equestrian team brought home the 2014 National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Championship by defeating the University of South Carolina on April 19 at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, Texas. With a season record of 11–4, the championship win marks Georgia’s sixth national title.
“What an exciting day this was for our entire team,” Head Coach Meghan Boenig said. “I could not be more proud of how these riders performed, especially in pressure situations. For the first time, this competition has been about the entire team and we had outstanding efforts from every single person on the team today. This is a `hunker down’ group that has competed to the very last point in every single ride in every single meet this season. They have never given up and I am so proud of them for that.”
With tied points of 8–8, Georgia’s raw score total of 2,323.5 beat South Carolina’s 2,219.
Twelve NCEA teams battled at the National Championship, and several former APHA riders and AjPHA members helped South Carolina and Georgia make it into the finals.
Paige Stawicki, who was featured in a March 2014 Paint Horse Journal article on the NCEA recruitment process, rode in the horsemanship finals. With HR Zip Me, Paige earned her Youth Versatility and Youth Champion awards as well as a 2011 reserve world champion title in Youth Western Riding 14–18.
Addiitonally, former AjPHA member Cody McMillion (pictured) competed for South Carolina in the reining. In 2011, Cody won the Novice Youth Reining world championship with Smoking Greyhound.