The Texas A&M equestrian team came in second at this weekend’s SEC championships, hosted in College Station.

The No. 4 Aggies (8-6, 4-4 SEC), who started off the weekend upsetting South Carolina in the semifinals on Friday, came just short of capturing the program’s first SEC championship when they fell to No. 2 Georgia 12-5 in Saturday’s final.

A&M fell behind early in the championship matchup after Georgia (11-4, 6-2 SEC) jumped out to a 4-0 lead in equitation on the flat. Senior Laura Sumrall and junior Hannah Jechow earned the Aggies their first two points in the Western Arena to help cut the deficit to 5-2.

That was as close as the Aggies would get in the match, however, as the eventual champs pulled away once again by winning both the fences (4-1) and the horsemanship (3-2) categories. The loss was the first for the Aggies at home this year, and it dropped the Aggies to .500 in conference play.

“Today was a good eye opener and learning tool for nationals,” head coach Tana McKay said. “Things have been going really well for us and as long as we use this as a positive learning experience then we will be fine.”

Sumrall, the Most Outstanding Player of the match, had a historic day in her last collegiate home game. Her score of 150 is the highest ever given to a rider in reigning at the SEC Championships. Sumrall also earned a spot on the All-Championship team.

“[Laura] had a phenomenal ride and it was really good for her,” McKay said. “You always want your seniors to go out with a bang so today was great.”

The Aggies next stop is the NCEA National Championships in Waco. The opening rounds begin April 16.