NCEA Weekend Recap- South Carolina, Texas A&M, Delaware State Score Wins

NCEA SCOREBOARD: OCTOBER 8, 2018

GAMECOCKS DEFEAT NO. 2 GEORGIA, 10-9

BLYTHEWOOD, S.C. – The South Carolina equestrian team earned its first win of the season after downing No. 2-ranked Georgia, 10-9, Friday afternoon at One Wood Farm in Blythewood. The Gamecocks also claimed the Hunter Seat competition, 5-4, and the Western side after a tiebreaker in reining, 5-4.

Carolina (1-2, 1-1 SEC) defeated the Bulldogs (0-1, 0-1 SEC) after leading throughout the entirety of the meet, handing Georgia a loss in its first meet of the season.

“We had a great day (Friday),” head coach Boo Major said. “Really proud of our girls. We still had some mistakes here and there, but we were able to overcome the mistakes with some really good scores, some really quality rides. I think our girls had a great ride.”

The Gamecocks took two MOPs, both in Hunter Seat. Trinity Hammerschmidt won, 76-71, over Stella Martin on Leon in equitation on the flat. In equitation over fences, Madison Sellman topped Sydeny Hutchins, 88-84, on Tattoo.

Finishing fences first, Carolina took the event, 3-2, over the Bulldogs. In addition to Sellman’s victory, Louisa Bracket earned a, 77-66, win over Ali Tritschler on Joe. Rounding out fences, Tyler Petrie won her point, 86-82, on Batman opposite of Maddy Darst.

After winning three-straight horsemanship points, the Gamecocks claimed the event, 3-2. Madison Thiel kicked off the streak with a, 70-65.5, victory against Madison Anger on Peaches. Up next, Caroline Gute rode Barbie, topping Miller Lantis, 70-62. On Amos, Quinn Brandt just edged out Lila Owens, 71-70, to send the Gamecocks into the break up, 6-4.

Carolina and Georgia tied in equitation on the flat, 2-2, after the first ride ended at 70-70 between Madison Brayman and Madison Newman on Indie. Along with Hammerschmidt’s win, Lizzie van der Walde outscored Grace Bridges by 24 on Toby, 68-44.

Ending the day with reining, the Gamecocks had an 8-6 lead over the Bulldogs with only five rides left. Overall, Georgia claimed the event, 3-2. Addie Cromer defeated Jordan Carpenter, 69-68.5, on Stoner to bring Carolina’s total to nine points. Clinching the win, Gute came out on top, 70-67, on Nike against Julia Spreng.

“After such a hard loss at Auburn and then to go up against Georgia (Friday), the girls really weren’t down for the count,” Major said. “They were ready to get back up and try really, really hard (Friday), which they did. We’re very happy, excited and looking forward to Texas A&M coming in next week.”

Carolina is back in action on Friday, October 12, at 1 p.m., as the Gamecocks host Texas A&M at One Wood Farm in Blythewood.

LATE RALLY PROPELS NO. 3 TEXAS A&M PAST NO. 6 TCU, 9-8
SPRINGTOWN, Texas – Trailing by two heading into the meet’s final event, the No. 3 Texas A&M equestrian team rallied to defeat No. 6 TCU, 9-8, Friday at Turning Point Ranch.

“I am very proud of our whole team effort today,” head coach Tana McKay said. “We had some really great rides and TCU was extremely tough. We are excited to get a road win, which are not easy to come by. Many thanks to TCU for putting on a great show. We have another challenging meet ahead of us next weekend at South Carolina, so we have to get back at it in practice and correct some of our mistakes.”

With the Horned Frogs (1-1) leading 7-6 heading into Equitation on the Flat, the Aggies picked up three crucial points to take the win. Rebekah Chenelle led off the event with an 81-67 victory over Niki Barns before Rhian Murphy defeated Brooke Matson. After Caroline Dance and Janelle Henningsen tied at 82, Brianna Peddicord clinched the win in the meet’s final ride, topping Alex Beneson, 81-66.

In Equitation over Fences, the Aggies (2-0) won the first three points as Chenelle defeated Beneson, 82-78, before Murphy edged out Kathleen Harrigan, 70-68. Grace Boston scored a 79, besting Raegan Rast’s 75. Dance and Elizabeth McKim tied at 66.

Picking up points for the Aggies in the Western arena were Ashley Davidson, who toppled Jamie Cook, 76-75.5, and Sarah Orsak, who defeated Josie Mootz, 74.5-74, in Horsemanship. Shelby Reine secured up the lone point for the Aggies in Reining with a 73.5-71 triumph over Claire Dittrich.

The Aggies return to action October 12 at 1 p.m. for the first conference meet of the season at South Carolina.

To learn more about Texas A&M equestrian, log on to 12thMan.com or follow @AggieEquestrian on Twitter and Instagram.

DSU HORNETS GET BY SWEET BRIAR IN HUNT SEAT ONLY CONTEST

FELTON, Del. – Led by a 4-0 sweep on the Flat, Delaware State posted a 5-4 victory over Sweet Briar in a Hunt Seat only equestrian contest at the Dovington Training Center today.

Eva Epstein, Sydney Wicklund, Gabrielle Fournier and Miranda Adcock won on the Flat for the Hornets. Epstein earned Most Outstanding Performer honors with a score of 67 on “Luke.” Fournier, the reigning national Equiflat Flat Rider of the Week, continued her recent success, riding “Lophius” to a winning score of 77 to earn a point for DSU.

Sweet Briar won the Fences competition 4-1. Zoe Kirsch posted Delaware State’s lone Fences win with a score of 81 aboard “King.”

The next competition for the DSU equestrian team is scheduled for Nov. 16 against SMU in a battle of nationally-ranked squads at the Dovington Training Center. The Hornets are No. 8 in the latest NCEA Farnam top 10 rankings, while SMU is No. 5.