Feb. 20, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. – After yesterday’s competition between South Carolina and Auburn, the field has now been set for the 2011 Southern Equestrian Championships, hosted by the Gamecocks on March 25-26 at One Wood Farm in Blythewood.

Because the Gamecocks dropped a 10-9 decision at Auburn yesterday, South Carolina (4-5) will now face Georgia in the opening round on Friday, March 25, at 2 p.m. The Tigers, with a 9-3 record, receive a first-round bye and will face the South Carolina/Georgia winner on Saturday, March 26, at 10 a.m.

“We’re very excited about hosting the Southern Equestrian Championships this year,” South Carolina head coach Boo Major said. “Georgia and Auburn have been strong all season, and I feel like our team has gotten better. We had a great win against Georgia two weeks ago at our place, and we had a 6-3 lead on Auburn yesterday, and let that one get away from us.”

The opening round contest against Georgia will be the Bulldogs’ second visit to Blythewood during the spring semester. On February 5, South Carolina’s Western team turned in a 9-0 shutout, and got one point from its Hunt Seat team to earn the 10-9 win.

“The Georgia win was huge for us. The score from the fall competition against them was pretty lop-sided, so our girls really wanted that re-match bad,” Major said. “But Georgia’s Western team is not going to go out and lose 9-0 again, so our Hunt Seat girls are going to have to do better than their one-point performance last time around.”

GamecocksOnline will provide live scoring for both competitions.