Sept. 23, 2005

Blythewood, S.C. – South Carolina Varsity Equestrian opened the season Friday with a dominating performance against the University of Kentucky Wildcats at their home facility, OneWood Farm in Blythewood, S.C.

Equitation on the flat and Horsemanship kicked-off competition at approximately 2 p.m. While both teams had impressive performances in what turned out to be an extremely warm afternoon, the Gamecocks came up with the win in both events with scores of 303 to 284.5 in Equitation and 307 to 292.5 in Horsemanship. The point spread winners in those events were junior hunt seat rider Claire Sharp and sophomore Katy Biffle, respectively.

USC had the strongest performances in equitation over fences, as junior Hunt Seat rider Ellen Hogate won the competiton’s point spread award for a 26-point advantage over Kentucky’s Katie Maston with a score of 84. Sophomore Kristen Terebesi also had an impressive performance with a score of 86.

Later in the evening, the Gamecock sealed the victory with another win in Reining, totaling 297.5 points to Kentucky’s 277.5 Rebekah Roof was the point spread winner in that division with a score of 73.5, seven and a half points more than her opponent.

“I think we did a very good job today. With the heat and the fact that it ran a little longer than we hoped, everybody kept their spirits up real well and we did a great job with winning every division,” said USC Head Coach Boo Duncan. “I think that was really important to see how strong our team is going into the Big Eight Tournament in a couple of weeks with Georgia and then having Georgia come back and compete with us again at the end of October. So, we had a good win, we’re excited and we’re ready for the rest of the year.”

While five riders from each school competed in the four events, the lowest score in each division is dropped and all the scores are totaled to determine a overall winner for the competition. USC won with a total of 1224.5 points to Kentucky’s 1148.5.

The Gamecocks will compete in the Big Eight Tournament on October 7-8 in Athens, Ga. Results will be available at www.uscsports.com.