OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (SMU) – Defending her 2018 title, Madison Steed earned a back-to-back win at the NRHA Collegiate Reining Championship, Friday at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

    Representing SMU strong at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby, Steed repeated her success last summer, competing alongside collegiate reining's elite riders, to clinch the win for the second summer in a row. Steed is the only person to win the NRHA Collegiate Reining Championship twice, except for her coach, Mustangs' Associate Head Coach McKenzie Lantz. 

    Emerging victoriously, Steed, on Spook N Sparkle, earned a 217.5, five points higher than her closest competitor. Spook N Sparkle is owned by Rosanne Sternberg and trained by Shayna Larcombe (pictured below).
    

    "It was a great way to end my collegiate career," Steed said. "Very thankful that I got the opportunity to ride such a great horse. As my last ride ever - it's been a fun four years, and I would do it all over again!"

    Holly Lansidel, riding Reyny Day Dreamer (owned by Carolyn Tracey Brose & Maron Neff) tallied a score of 211 to finish in third place, while Savannah Ostner rode to a fourth place finish. 

 

    Ostner, competing in the 12-rider field on Zaragosa (owned by Patrick Aaron Swartz), notched a score of 209.
 

    Three scores are calculated and averaged by the judges to determine the rider's final score. The judges were Bud Poplin, Brett Walters and Kim Myers.

    Steed, a native of Cochrane, Alberta, Canada who recently earned her degree from SMU this spring, earned top honors at the competition and the Morrison Bronze trophy, donated by the NRHA. She will be honored for her impressive accomplishment tonight at an NRHA awards ceremony.
 

    Lantz expressed excitement and pride in her student-athletes and their performances in the well-respected reining competition.
 

    "I am so proud of all three of my girls today!" Lantz said. "They each rode great and are phenomenal representatives for SMU. We were fortunate to have three goes at it, and to come out first, third and fourth is just the icing on the cake of a great year. I couldn't be happier for Madison to end her collegiate career on this high. Not only is she an extremely talented rider, but she is an even better leader and teammate. We will miss her tremendously, but she has definitely left her mark on SMU." 

  Along with winning the NRHA Collegiate Championship twice, Steed's legendary senior campaign was highlighted by being crowned NCEA Co-Rider of the Year (Reining), earning NCEA All-Championship Tournament team recognition and triumphing as Most Outstanding Reining Rider at the 2019 NCEA National Championship in Waco, Texas. The Mustangs' team captain excelled in leadership and won All-UEC status in her event, All-UEC Academic - First Team and NCEA Farnam All-Academic - First Team honors.

    Additionally, she won four of her five tournament rides at the NCEA National Championship, propelling SMU to the Event Championship Finals for the first time in program history, as well as going 2-0 at the UEC Championship to help make history again for the Mustangs by becoming the first team to hoist the league trophy for two consecutive seasons.