WACO, Texas (NCEA/SMU) – SMU Equestrian freshman Madison Rafacz has been named the 2026 National Collegiate Equestrian Association Reining Rider of the Year, the NCEA announced in a release on Wednesday.
Rafacz is the first freshman at SMU to win the accolade in Reining and the second in NCEA history. The last freshman to earn the honor was Oklahoma State's Hannah Mitchell in 2017.
The rider earned First-Team All-America honors after an explosive freshman season. She posted an unblemished record of 8-0-2, collecting four MOPs along the way. Rafacz was named Arion NCEA Rider of the Month two times this season, the most by a freshman in a single season in NCEA history.
The Ocala native is the 12th NCEA Rider of the Year in program history. This is the fifth time a Mustang has claimed the award in Reining, with Taylor Zimmerman most recently earning the title in 2024.
UP NEXT
SMU will face the fourth-seeded South Carolina Gamecocks (10-5) on Thursday, April 16, at 7:30 a.m. CT, at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.
