Gamecocks Finish Season at NCEA Championship
April 20, 2018
2018 NCEA Championship Day #3
WACO, Texas — The 2017-18 season came to an end for the University of South Carolina equestrian team on Friday as the Gamecocks were eliminated from the 2018 NCEA Championship. Carolina competed in equitation on the flat, equitation over fences and reining on Friday, with the highlight of the day coming in the western arena as the Gamecocks prevailed over Georgia in their morning match.
The Gamecocks took advantage of the new NCEA Championship format, advancing to the quarterfinals in both hunt seat events and the semifinals of reining. Carolina fell to Georgia Thursday in the main draw quarterfinals, 11-4.
The highlight of the day and perhaps the entire postseason came in the reining quarterfinals on Friday morning, where the Gamecocks eliminated rival Georgia, 3-1. Fresh off the momentum of a 4-0 sweep of TCU on Wednesday, the Carolina reining squad came out firing against the Bulldogs. Bailey Walters took down Kyndall Harper on Juice, 138-129, and Caroline Gute won her fifth-straight point of the championship with a 142.5-140.5 win on Whiz over Annabeth Payne. The third point came from Paisley Roberts, who edged Graysen Stroud on Bueno, 144.5-144.
The victory over Georgia led to a reining semifinal matchup with Texas A&M later Friday morning, with the Aggies taking a 3-0 win. The Carolina draw came from Walters, who ended the meet unbeaten with a 145-all tie with Kalee McCann on Ben.
Carolina entered the equitation over fences quarterfinals off of a Wednesday victory over Baylor. Chloe Schmidt earned a 167-165 victory over Ashton Alexander on Jake, but the Gamecocks were eliminated by Auburn, 3-1.
The Gamecocks ended the day in the equitation on the flat quarterfinals. Carolina swept TCU Wednesday, 4-0, but fell to Auburn on Friday, 3-0. Louisa Brackett earned a draw, matching Alexander’s 160 on Capistrano.
NOTABLE
• Walters ended her final NCEA Championship undefeated, with a 3-0-1 reining record over three days of action.
• Gute finished with a combined 5-1 record in reining and horsemanship.
• Roberts was the high-point rider in the reining battle with Georgia, scoring 144.5, while Walters shared the honor with Texas A&M’s McCann as both scored 145 in the reining matchup against the Aggies.
• Friday marked the final collegiate appearances for seniors Roberts, Schmidt and Walters, who each earned at least one point on their final meet day with the Gamecocks.
FROM THE COACH
“I couldn’t be prouder of this crew. Again, we would love to have had wins today all across the board, but I think we did what we wanted to accomplish besides winning, and that was to make as few mistakes as we could. We tried to ride at our best to see if we could continue to improve each day, and I know on the hunt seat side they rode mistake-free, and I think the reiners had some difficult horses this afternoon, but they gave it all they could give today. I’m just so proud of everybody. I’ve said it over and over again — I would not trade this group for anything. They have been a fantastic group to work with. Unfortunately, we haven’t had the greatest of records, but it’s been a wonderful year, with great leadership from our seniors and a great group of young women to work with.”– Head Coach Boo Major
