Oklahoma State University Athletics
Huff, Verplank to Compete at AQHA Collegiate Horsemanship Championship
July 05, 2019 | Cowgirl Equestrian
Championship Bracket
STILLWATER – Harley Huff and Emma Verplank will represent Oklahoma State's equestrian team at the AQHA Collegiate Horsemanship Championship in August.
Twelve riders will vie for a championship title mounted on unfamiliar American Quarter Horses. The NCEA selected the top 12 collegiate Horsemanship athletes to represent their respective equestrian teams at the Ford Youth World.
Competitors will face off in the Collegiate Horsemanship Championship prelims on Monday, August 5, immediately following the Level 2 Horsemanship finals in the Performance Arena. The top four riders will then go head to head in the Collegiate Horsemanship Championship finals on Tuesday, August 6, following the Level 3 14-18 trail in the Jim Norick Arena in Oklahoma City.
Huff, the No. 6 seed, faces Fresno State's Brooklyn Moch in the first round.
Last season, Huff went 11-5 in Horsemanship and was named the Big 12 Rider of the Year in Horsemanship for the second-straight season. She also was a member of the All-Big 12 Horsemanship team and was Second-Team All-America.
Moch posted a 6-4 record and was an NCEA All-America Horsemanship Honorable Mention and the United Equestrian Conference Freshman Horsemanship Rider of the Year.
If Huff advances, she'll face Taylor Searles from Auburn. Huff has yet to face either opponent.
Team captain Verplank, the No. 12 seed, faces off against Auburn's fifth-seeded Kelsey Jung. This past season, Verplank bested Jung at the NCEA National Championships, 207.5-198.
Verplank went 6-5-2 in Horsemanship during her junior campaign en route to being an NCEA All-American Honorable Mention.
Jung holds Auburn's single-season wins record in Horsemanship after collecting 15 points during her sophomore season. This past year as a junior, Jung earned second-team All-America honors in Horsemanship.
Verplank would face Alex Albright from Texas A&M if she advances to round two.
Big 12 Winter Scholar Athlete of the Year Sarah Miller was originally the 12th-seeded rider but is not able to make it due to her masters program at the University of Nebraska Omaha.
