March 8, 2013
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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Despite MVP wins from sophomores Amber Henter and Layla Choate, No. 4 South Carolina dropped a 14-6 decision to No. 8 Kansas State at Timercreek Stables on Friday. The Gamecocks drop to 6-5 while the Wildcats improve to 6-3.
The Hunt Seat team lost, 6-4. The Western team lost, 8-2.
“We are disappointed in today’s loss. We had some mistakes this afternoon that can be easily corrected,” South Carolina head coach Boo Major said. “I want to give kudos to Amber and Layla for earning well-deserved MVP’s. The score today does not reflect the effort that our riders put into this meet but it is what it is. Our girls rode hard today but it just wasn’t enough. We don’t have any time to stew over it because we have to prepare for Oklahoma State tomorrow.”
In Hunt Seat action, sophomores Amber Henter and Katherine Schmidt combined to go 4-for-4, scoring all four of the Gamecocks’ Hunt Seat points. Henter also earned MVP honors in Equitation on the Flat in her first Flat ride of the season.
In Equitation Over Fences, Schmidt defeated Kansas States’s Madison Wayda, 84-69. Henter knocked off Kali Yates, 80-79.
In Equitation on the Flat, Henter won her first career Flat MVP and her first Flat point of the season with an 85-76 victory over Larissa Laffey. Her score of 85 was the highest of the event, and she now has a 3-1 career record in Equitation on the Flat. Schmidt competed her 2-for-2 day with an 82-81 victory over Rachel Webster to improve her record to 14-8.
In the Western portion of Saturday’s meet, South Carolina got one point each from its Horsemanship and Reining squads.
In Reining, sophomore Layla Choate won her first MVP of the season with a 75.5-74.5 victory over Savannah Smith. Her 75.5 was the highest score of the event. Choate now leads the Reining team with six wins this season, giving her 15 career wins.
In Horsemanship, Alison Ceresani won her second point in as many meets, as she defeated Kansas State’s Chayna DeNicolo, 75.5-71. Three of Ceresani’s four points have come on the road this season.
The Gamecocks will close out the regular season on Saturday, when South Carolina travels to Stillwater, Okla., to compete against No. 3 Oklahoma State at the Animal Science Arena. Saturday’s meet will begin at 11 a.m. ET and fans can follow the scores from Stillwater by following @OSUEquestrian on Twitter.
