AUBURN, Alabama – The SEC was unable to conduct its SEC championships in equestrian, but the conference decided Tuesday to crown Auburn as the conference champion.

Auburn was rewarded the Tigers their third overall title, including their second straight, despite the SEC canceling the championship because of coronavirus pandemic. Auburn was undefeated heading into the postseason for the second straight year and was the favorite to win the program's seventh national title.

“I didn’t know how we could have ever topped a year like last year, but this team found a way,” head coach Greg Williams said in a statement. “Finishing the regular season as the No. 1 team and No. 1 in every event puts an exclamation point on the meaning of a perfect season. Being a member of the SEC is an honor alone and having the conference present such a coveted trophy to this outstanding group of young women makes me beyond proud.”

Auburn becamse the first NCEA equestrian team to finish a season undefeated in history in 2019 and was on pace to do so again in 2020.

The 2019-20 Tigers finished the year with a 13-0 overall record and a 6-0 mark in conference action. Auburn outscored its league opponents, 76-41, over six meets and picked up 17 of a possible 24 MOPs honors vs. the SEC.

Auburn finished first in all five national rankings announced by the NCEA. The Tigers finished the season No. 1 in the overall team rankings following another perfect season.

Auburn finished first nationally in Flat, Fences, Horsemanship and Reining. Williams believed Auburn would win the national title before the season ended prematurely.

“I had this one this year, I felt like,” Williams says on an episode of The Social Club. “I feel like we can be good for a while because we really, a lot of it is because we had to. I’ve been blessed with a lot of good coaches around me at Auburn that have let me pick their brains all the time. If you just look at the history and you just follow the tracing of all the great coaching wisdom that goes down to each one of these coaches here through the years, I try to fast-froward that into our sport. I pick their brains like crazy. I feel like the culture we’ve got is going to be sustainable for a while. We’ve got an incredible staff. This town and university are great for this sport. Most of the people are really from all over the country and really didn’t know much of anything about Auburn, but when they come and see it, they fall in love with it. It’s a great fit for our sport.”

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Williams has won six national titles, including five over the last nine seasons. He helped build the Auburn University Equestrian Center that debuted in 1996, and transitioned the program from a club sport to a varsity sport.

“The reason I feel like we get the big crowds isn’t because they understand everything about horses,” says Williams. “We just want it to be a fun atmosphere for kids. We have the horseback rides, we want it to be fun family events. I’m an Auburn kid, I did a lot of growing up here, so this was moving home for me. That’s the biggest thing I remember: athletes come to our schools but programs went on. I really just want our girls to give back like that, because I know what it’s like to be a kid in Auburn, and it just means so much to the families. If you make it fun for the kids, you’re taking care of the families.”

Watch the episode of The Social Club below.