April 11, 2017
2008 VARSITY EQUESTRIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ââ’¬” TEREBESI WINS NATIONAL TITLES
Recap ââ’¬” April 19, 2008
The 2016-17 season is the 20th anniversary of head coach Boo Major’s tenure at the University of South Carolina. As the Gamecocks prepare for the 2017 NCEA Championship event, GamecocksOnline.com will look back on some of the biggest victories of Major’s career, including today’s feature, which highlights the individual National Championships earned by hunt seat rider Kristen Terebesi in 2008.
RECAP
Entering her senior season in 2007-08, Glenmoore, Pa., native Kristen Terebesi had already etched her name into Gamecock Equestrian lore by leading the hunt seat squad to national championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007, including a pair of overall national titles. Prior to the 2008 Varsity Equestrian National Championship, individual awards were added, giving the All-American another set of goals to shoot for. She did not disappoint.
Terebesi earned the No. 2 seed in equitation over fences and dispatched of Fresno State’s Lisa Wells in the semifinal round. To win the championship, she had to defeat Baylor’s Nicole Brown, the top-seeded rider in the nation, and she was successful to earn the title of National Champion.
But another test stood in front of Terebesi, as she would have to top both Bailey Mahoney of Oklahoma State and Haylie Jane of Georgia to claim the equitation on the flat title. Both Mahoney and Jane had beaten Terebesi in the regular season, but the Gamecock was victorious in her final collegiate rides to win a dual National Championship in one day.
Terebesi ended her career with an outstanding 27-4 record in postseason competition.
WHAT THEY SAID THEN
“We had a rocky start to the week but came back and kicked it into gear to give out some great performances. The individual wins were a bonus, and I couldn’t be more proud to bring them back for Carolina.”– Kristen Terebesi
WHAT THEY SAY NOW
“Athletes set goals in any sport. The individual titles were a new component to the championship format, and as a graduating senior in 2008 I was ready to accept the challenge they presented. After that day, I remember wanting to have ridden a bit differently in some places, but that’s the beauty of the equestrian sport; there is this perpetual state of learning that comes from even your best of days.”– Kristen Terebesi
“Kristen still means a lot to our program. She is always sending me texts and calling. Her parents live 10 minutes from a venue where I go recruiting every year, so I keep up with the Terebesi’s all the time.”
“She had a great influence on the team, mostly with her work ethic. She was going to go out there and get the job done. I think that helped a lot of folks on the team realize ‘oh, if I work that hard, and I am that intense, I go out there and give it my all, I’m going to be a winner as well.'”– Coach Major
