USC Equestrian Places Second And Third In Two Western Competitions

February 12, 2002

The USC Equestrian Team finished second and third at two western competitions held at Judson College in Autaguaville, Alabama. Traditionally, the Lady Gamecocks have not shown well at this competition but that was not the case this year. With only nine team members, they managed a second place finish behind the University of Georgia in the first competition and a third place finish behind Berry College and Georgia in the second competition. Jennifer Caban, the team’s open rider had been out all week with the flu and had been unable to ride until Saturday.

The squad’s finish was extra special for Coach Duncan. “We are the last school in our region to come back from the holidays therefore, we only had three weeks of practice before this competition” Coach Duncan said. “These young women knew what they had to do to get the job done and they did it. Yes, we would like to have won but under the circumstances, I was very happy coming out of there with a second and third.”

Senior Kelly Caine led the Lady Gamecocks by winning both of her Beginner Horsemanship classes. Lindsey Weathers also won an Intermediate II class. Second place finishes were won by junior Jessica Keels and freshman Candice Hendrix in different sections of Intermediate II.

“I wish I could find more interest from good western riders and even beginners for our team. Because we compete in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association at this time we must have riders at all levels” said Coach Duncan. “Most people think because we are varsity, we take only the top athletes, but we must have all different levels of riders. Once we reach NCAA varsity status, I think this will change but we currently must compete under IHSA rules in order to have a venue in which to compete.”

The Equestrian Team’s next competition will be a home show this weekend at Irish Oaks Equestrian Centre in the Ascot subdivision in Irmo. For directions or more information on this show, please call the Athletic’s Department at 777-7829.