Feb. 22, 2007

Columbia, S.C. – The University of South Carolina equestrian team travels to Auburn for a second meeting with the defending national champions Saturday at 9 a.m. The two teams met earlier this season with South Carolina coming away with a 12-7 victory over the Tigers.

“Auburn is always a tough environment for us to compete,” Head Coach Boo Duncan said. “Coach Williams will have his time well prepared for us. We have had a good couple of weeks of practice and hope to give the defending National Champions a run for their money.”

The Gamecocks are riding a four match winning streak coming into the competition and are 6-1 on the year. The Hunt Seat team holds an impressive 7-0 record while the Western team is 2-5.

Riding for the Gamecocks in equitation on the flat will be senior Kelley Campbell (Keysville, Va.), Sarah Lowe (Augusta, Ga.), and Carly Johns (Woodstock, Ga.), junior Kristen Terebesi (Glenmoore, Pa.), and freshman Carly Babcock (Deer Harbor, Wash.). In equitation over fences, senior Ellen Hogate (St. Charles, Ill.), junior Terebesi, sophomore Sarah Stephens (Chalfont, Pa.), and freshmen Megan Massaro (Summerfield, Fla.) and Nicole Bourgeois (Sherwood, Ore.).

Leading the Garnet and Black in horsemanship will be senior captain Rachel Sternoff (Redmond, Wash.). Also competing for the Gamecocks will be juniors Katy Biffle (Orange Grove, Texas), and Allison Bradley (Lancaster, Calif.), sophomore Katie Grossnickle (Winona Lake, Ind.), and freshman Kristina Pappendick (Rapid City, S.D.). In the reining competition, senior Sternoff, juniors Lindsay Williams (Sand Springs, Okla.) and Bradley, sophomore Rebekah Roof (Lexington, S.C.), and freshman Pappendick will ride for USC.