AUBURN, Ala. – After a decorated career on the Plains that included multiple national and conference championships, Taylor Searles now joins Auburn equestrian as an assistant coach. Head coach Greg Williams announced the staff addition on Friday.
"I'm excited to have Taylor move into the coaching realm," Williams said. "Having grown up in the horse business and having achieved the highest success in both the industry and college riding, she will bring another level of experience to this program. Most importantly, she spent five years under the most successful position coach for Western in Mary Meneely. Taylor already knows the level of expectations we have as well as our culture and plans of operation."
Searles will replace Meneely as the team's Western coach. Meneely retired from collegiate coaching at the conclusion of the season, helping the Tigers win three national titles and five Southeastern Conference championships.
A member of the equestrian team from 2017-22, Searles played a major part in many historical moments for the program. As a freshman, she helped the Tigers win a national championship in 2018 as well as national titles in both Western and Horsemanship. In 2019, her performances in the arena helped the Tigers pick up their second national title.
In addition, Searles was a part of the Auburn's four-straight SEC titles (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022) and helped the squad win 42 consecutive meets over three seasons.
Individually, Searles finished her career as a five-time All-American and four-time All-SEC performer. She was named the SEC Horsemanship Rider of the Year twice (2021, 2022) and earned NCEA Horsemanship Rider of the Year in 2019. She finished her career with a program-record 54 wins in Horsemanship and set the single season wins record with 16 Horsemanship victories in 2019.
Searles earned her degree in marketing in May 2020 and graduated with her Master of Business Administration in December 2021.