Upcoming Event: Equestrian versus Yellow and Blue Scrimmage on September 20, 2025 at TBA
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TBA
Equestrian
vs Yellow and Blue Scrimmage
South Dakota State University Athletics
Equestrian
Wilkins, Ellie
Ellie Wilkins
- Title:
- Acting Head Coach
After serving one season as an assistant coach, Ellie Wilkins took over the South Dakota State equestrian program in July 2015 as the program’s fourth head coach.
Wilkins joined the Jackrabbit equestrian staff in September 2014 as the team’s hunt seat coach after competing for four years at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, where she competed on the Aggies 2011 and 2012 NCEA National Championship teams.
As her first year as head coach, Wilkins lead the team to a 4-8 record with wins over nationally ranked TCU and 25 MOPs among both the Hunt Seat and Western teams.
In the 2016-17 season, Wilkins lead the team to the NCEA National Championship for the first time in four years. Reaching that achievement, Wilkins broke records being the youngest SDSU head coach to take a team to nationals, the first coach to take a team alone and the first SDSU coach to take a team since the crowning of one champion.
In her first season on the SDSU staff as the primary hunt seat coach, Wilkins helped guide the Jackrabbit hunt seat riders to one of the most successful seasons in school history, as three single-season records fell with five more single-season top fives as well.
Wilkins-coached riders set SDSU single-season records in 2014-15 for wins on the flat, wins over fences and MOP on the flat, adding five other top-five marks for both wins and MOP on the flat and over fences.
In addition to the individual records, the SDSU hunt seat squad also set team records with 29 total wins over fences and tied the school mark with five over fences MOP in 2014-15. The 26 wins and 6 MOP on the flat ranks as the second-highest single-season total in school history.
Wilkins essentially started her coaching career while a student-athlete at Texas A&M, where the Aggie coaching staff appointed her as an equitation on the flat specialist to assist with instruction at practices and competitions for her teammates during her senior season in College Station.
In addition to riding with her Aggie teammates, Wilkins also competed in United States Equestrian Federation events, where she won a pair of USEF Zone 8 equitation championships and competed in the USEF Pessoa Medal finals in 2008 and 2009, and in the Maclay Finals in 2008.
After graduating from Texas A&M in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in recreation, parks and tourism sciences, the Evergreen, Colo., native returned home to work with her trainer, Meg Shulman, an “R” judge, trainer and clinician.
Wilkins also worked clinics with Rita Timpanaro and Nick Karazissis, and brings experience riding and schooling horses for Hugh Graham in Ontario, Canada.
Equestrian: Fresno State/UT Martin/South Dakota State (Indoor Arena) - Day 1
Monday, September 30
