WACO, Texas – The National Reining Horse Association Derby is scheduled to host the 2015 NRHA Collegiate Reining Championship on Saturday, June 27 in the State Fair Park Coliseum in Oklahoma City, Okla. The event begins at 8 a.m. CT.
The competition will feature four first-team All-America riders from National Collegiate Equestrian Association institutions. This year's participants are South Carolina's Layla Choate, Georgia's Lauren Garmon, Texas A&M's Laura Sumrall and South Dakota State's Mariah Wright. Auburn's Katsy Leeman is the first alternate and New Mexico State's Brynn Larson is the second alternate.
Sumrall, in addition to her NCEA All-American honors, was named to the All-SEC Reining squad and added NCEA academic honors in her final collegiate season. After leading the team with 12 victories in the 2014-15 season, she earned two MOP honors and was named the SEC All-Championship reining athlete after two incredible rides at the 2015 conference championship. Most recently, Sumrall won the 2015 world championship freestyle title with her "Frozen" inspired ride.
The 12-person field also includes four collegiate riders selected by the NRHA and the top-four individual reining riders from the IHSA National Championship.
The NRHA Derby runs for one week each summer in Oklahoma City and showcases the world's best reining horses in the four to six year age range. Thousands of spectators, exhibitors, and horses attend the event each year. The Derby is one of two major events presented by the NRHA each year in Oklahoma City. For more information on this year's Derby, visit www.nrhaderby.com.
For more information on the National Collegiate Equestrian Association, please visit www.collegiateequestrian.com or follow @NCEA_Equestrian on Twitter.