The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference
The Official Website of the Southeastern Conference

SEC announces annual Equestrian awards

269 days ago
SEC Staff
Photo: SEC

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (April 10, 2023)-- The Southeastern Conference has announced its 2023 Equestrian awards, recognizing standout performances throughout the past season. The awards were voted on by the league's four head coaches.

Five athletes per event are selected for the All-SEC Team and SEC All-Freshman Team (where there were enough nominees), while ties were not broken.

The 2023 Equestrian All-SEC teams and honors are listed below:

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
ATHLETE MAJOR GPA
 Ellie Gerbrandt, Texas A&M Allied Health 4.00
  • AD Honor Roll 2021, 2022
  • Member of the 2021-2022 NCEA Academic Honor Roll
  • Gerbrandt has a 5-5-1 record in Horsemanship, including one MOP
  • Recorded a season high 74.5 points on four different occasions
  • Scored 72 points or higher on nine different occasions
AWARD RECIPIENT
Coach of the Year  Greg Williams, Auburn
Fences Rider of the Year  Ellie Ferrigno, Auburn
Flat Rider of the Year  Ceci Bresch, Georgia
Horsemanship Rider of the Year  Maddie Spak, Auburn
Reining Rider of the Year  Ariana Gray, Texas A&M
Freshman Fences Rider of the Year   Natalie Jayne, South Carolina
Freshman Flat Rider of the Year  Devan Thomas, Texas A&M
 Natalie Jayne, South Carolina
Freshman Horsemanship Rider of the Year   Alexia Tordoff, Auburn
Freshman Reining Rider of the Year  Alexia Tordoff, Auburn
All-SEC (Fences)
 Rachel McMullen, Georgia
 Ava Stearns, Auburn
 Ellie Ferrigno, Auburn
 Sophee Steckbeck, Auburn
 Emma Kurtz, Auburn
All-SEC (Flat)
 Ceci Breshch, Georgia
 Sophia Pilla, Georgia
 Emma Kurtz, Auburn
 Sophee Steckbeck, Auburn
 Mary-Grace Segars, Auburn
 Ellie Ferrigno, Auburn
 Trinity Hammerschmidt, South Carolina 
All-SEC (Horsemanship)
 Maddie Spak, Auburn
 Olivia Tordoff, Auburn
 Jillian Stopperich, Georgia
 Alexia Tordoff, Auburn
 Cori Cansdale, Texas A&M
All-SEC (Reining)
 Lisa Bricker, Texas A&M
 Keesa Luers, Texas A&M
 Isabella Tesmer, Auburn
 Ariana Gray, Texas A&M
 Buchanan, Auburn
 Lauren Hanson, Texas A&M
 Emma Lane, South Carolina
All-Freshman (Fences)
 Alexa Leong, Texas A&M
 Tessa Brown, Georgia
 Natalie Jayne, South Carolina
All-Freshman (Flat)
 Devan Thomas, Texas A&M
 Mary Hunter Millet, South Carolina
All-Freshman (Horsemanship)
 Alexia Tordoff, Auburn
 Caroline Fredenburg, Auburn
 Alyssa Jipping, South Carolina
 Carly Jenkins, South Carolina
All-Freshman (Reining)
 Alexia Tordoff, Auburn
 Raegan Shepherd, Georgia
 Caroline Buchanan, Auburn
 Shelby Lynch, Georgia

Community Service Team

 Hannah Lemel, Auburn

Lemel, continues to serve with Project Uplift. It is a program that matches Auburn University students with children that are referred by their parents or teachers. She meets with her mentee of two and a half years once a week, acting as a mentor and friend. She spends a lot of time playing at parks, teaching life skills like making friends and teaching them how to cook. She and her mentee are working through a goal of reading 50 books to earn a trip to the Georgia Aquarium. In addition, she has helped plan an event that brought the children of Project Uplift to the equestrian facility for a chance to ride horses over the last two years. Another organization she's a part of is Compassus Hospice Care. She does a variety of different tasks and provides companionship to a patient with dementia, sitting with him and talking with him for a couple hours a week. She also assists the organization with any administrative tasks. In addition to all of this, she and her teammates have opened car doors at local elementary schools all school year.

 Tori Kendle, Georgia

Kendle, as a senior leader of the Georgia equestrian team, goes above and beyond her call of duty to the UGA and Athens community. For starters, she manages, organizes, and tracks the community service efforts of the 56-woman roster, making sure that everyone meets their requirements and receives the appropriate points for lettering. She serves as the team captain for Shop With A Bulldog (SWAB). She coordinates service opportunities with appropriate representatives and relays them to the team, working along with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to bring service opportunities to the team, scheduling a variety of different to volunteer. She is one of the top in community service hours on the team, dedicating her time to organizations such as Butterfly Dreams Farm and the Athens Area Humane Society as well as participating in Spooky Dawgs, Project Safe Clothing Drive , Hunger Bowl, and Feed My Starving Children.

 Emilia Reuitimann, South Carolina

Reuitimann, has completed 48 hours of community service in 2022-23, including work with WBB Trick or Treating Event, Week of Giving, Blood Drive, Gamecock Pantry, Final Victory Animal Rescue, Middle School Visit with Connect Lab, Generation Gamecock Mentoring Program, Artists for Africa, Back to School Drive. She also worked with Connect Lab throughout the summer, helping children with autism.

 Alexa Ortiz, Texas A&M

Ortiz, has worked as an equestrian Summer Camp Counselor and AmplifyU Intern, where she promotes and innovates NIL programs for student-athletes at Texas A&M to help maximize their brand/platform. She serves as Student-Athlete Advisory Committee Vice President of Selfless Service, which helps create volunteer opportunities for student-athletes (increased SA volunteer participation 26% in first semester). Ortiz serves the Boys and Girls Club Student Organization as treasurer and assisted in the creation of the Boys and Girls Club Student Organization at Texas A&M. She is also a member of the NCEA Academic Honor Roll.