Lynchburg Repeats as NCEA National Champion!

Lynchburg Repeats as NCEA National Champion!

OCALA, Fla. --- The University of Lynchburg equestrian team won its second-consecutive National Collegiate Equestrian Association single discipline national championship Saturday!

Trailing 3-1 after fences, the Hornets completed a comeback on the flat and defeated Sweet Briar in a raw-score tiebreaker 1,957-1,900. 

The Hornets came into the national championship as the second seed but overcame the first-seeded Vixens to claim the second national championship in program history. 

Emma Schweizer led the way with a pair of points over fences and on the flat. She claimed Lynchburg's lone point of the fences portion of the meet with a 256 riding Chapman. She earned her second point with a 226 on the flat while riding James, edging out her opponent by one point.

Lucy Metzler and Fallyn Belcastro earned Lynchburg's other two points on the flat, tying Sweet Briar in the overall score 4-4. 

With the title meet all knotted up, Lynchburg was crowned champion for the second time in its third season of NCEA competition.

Despite being outscored 3-1 over fences, Lynchburg's raw score of 1,016 was 32 points higher than Sweet Briar's thanks in large part to Schweizer's 41-point margin over her Sweet Briar opponent while riding Chapman. The Hornets also compiled a higher raw score on the flat 944-925.

Overall, the Hornets pulled off the victory over the top-ranked the Vixens 1,957-1,900.