After capturing the Southeastern Conference Championship, Bridgeport High School alumna Sammie Johnson and other members of the University of Georgia Equestrian Team are national runners up. Claiming the national title was Texas A&M University.

 

Held in Waco, Texas April 13-15, the Varsity Equestrian National Championships was a great experience, Johnson said.

 

 “We beat Fresno State in the quarterfinals on Friday and then moved on to the semifinals on Saturday morning where we beat Auburn,” she said. “That was a super close meet. It felt a little bit like the SEC Championship because it came down to the last point. And then we competed for the national championship Saturday afternoon against Texas A&M. We fought extremely hard, but it didn’t go our way that afternoon.”

 

A 2014 BHS graduate, Johnson is a junior at the University of Georgia where she has been a member of the Bulldog Equestrian Team since her freshman year. The Bulldogs captured the Southeastern Conference Championship on March 27, competing against Auburn University, Texas A&M and the University of South Carolina.

 

At Nationals, Johnson received an All-American Honorable Mention Academic Award, based on the percentage of meets she competes in and second semester grades. 

 

Johnson, who learned to ride while she was a little girl growing up in Bridgeport, competed in the horsemanship discipline. Read more about the SEC Championships and Johnson HERE.