Sept. 21, 2016
By Jeff Shearer
AuburnTigers.com
AUBURN, Ala. - The paper was still in the trees when Auburn equestrian coach Greg Williams turned the page.
"About as soon as we got through rolling Toomer's Corner, it literally was right back on to the next year," Williams says.
Last season, Auburn celebrated its fourth national championship and first Southeastern Conference championship, in the fourth year the SEC sponsored equestrian.
"Winning an official SEC trophy, that's something any coach in the SEC dreams of," he says.
At the Toomer's celebration in late April, Williams did not hide his enthusiasm, saying he believed Auburn equestrian is on the verge of a dynasty.
A bold statement considering Auburn must replace, among others, Elizabeth Benson, whom Williams calls "one of the best riders ever to ride in college."
Benson, who won a team-high 30 matches last season, now serves as a graduate assistant.
"One of the things I was most worried about wasn't just the talent that we were losing in our senior class. It was the leadership," Williams says. "I feel like having her as a recent graduate and a huge team leader, her presence ÃÆ'Æ'¢ÃƒÆ'¢'¬" she's going to be like a fourth coach. That's going to be a big help for us."
On the Western side, Auburn lost career Horsemanship record holder Griffin Knight, along with Hannah Loseke. Williams remains undaunted.
"We truly just reloaded, and I think, reloaded well," he says. "So, I don't think we're going to miss a beat. The new classes always add new energy."
When you're trying to repeat as conference and national champs, having outstanding seniors is a great place to start.
"We've got a couple All-Americans going into the senior class. Tory Hoft and Ashley Foster are going to have to be strong leaders for us," Williams says. "We won't have that many senior leaders on the Western side, so we're going to have to have leadership throughout, all the way from the sophomores through the seniors."
After reaching the pinnacle of their sport as freshmen, Auburn's sophomores will be counted on again.
"We had a very talented class that came in. Right off the bat, they didn't make it about them," Williams says. "They didn't talk about what they were going to do. They just followed the seniors. Started burning up the record books right away."
Sophomore Caitlin Boyle debuted in sensational fashion, with a school-record 16 wins in Fences with only one loss.
Blair McFarlin and Ashton Alexander also made an instant impact as freshmen.
Any temptation to admire championship rings and rest on laurels will be short-lived, Williams promises.
"If they think they're going to be complacent, that will get knocked out right out of them our first workouts and practices," he says.
Williams actively promotes Auburn equestrian on social media using the hashtag, #LookAtAuburn.
"We're a young sport, and we're still developing it," he says. One of the things I hear from others, whether it's coaches across the country, or just people in general, they'll say, 'Well, you can't do that in this sport.' And we said, 'We'll just do it at Auburn.' When everybody says something can't be done, then we said, 'Look at Auburn.'
The video board is up and running!! We CANNOT wait to open the season Friday!!! #LookAtAuburn #WarEagle pic.twitter.com/VpE9VJ6QqS
- Auburn Equestrian (@AuburnEQ) September 20, 2016
"I was just kind of on a rant one day in my office with assistant coaches, and I said, 'We're going to do this.' And everybody said, 'Look at Auburn.' Well you can't do this. Look at Auburn. That's what I want the answer to be. Both of my coaches said, you ought to make that a hashtag. "Look at Auburn," and it just stuck.
Auburn will host the 2017 SEC Championship on March 24-25th.
"One of the biggest things we're looking toward is being able to host the SECs again," Williams says. "We hosted the very first official SEC Championship. And we were the team to beat, and we just lost it in the finals. While it was sweet to win it last year, we now want to have that shot of winning it on our home turf again."
In his 22nd season at Auburn, and 15th as a varsity sport, Williams has developed a championship program from humble beginnings.
"We literally started with nothing," he says. "We did things through a lot of grit, a lot of hard work. But once we became a scholarship sport (in 2007), we knew then that we would be able to bring in the talent and still have the same workhorse mentality that already existed. And we knew then that we could probably be able to be one of the most dominant teams ever."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: Follow @jeff_shearer