Gamecocks Sweep Weekend on the Road; Top Two Ranked Opponents
FRESNO, Calif. – The No. 5 South Carolina equestrian team swept its tri-meet weekend in Fresno, topping No. 10 Fresno State, 10-7, and besting No. 4 Baylor in the raw score, 8-8, 1139.5-1114, at the Student Horse Center.
The Gamecocks claimed four MOP honors on the weekend. First up, Madison Brayman was named MOP for her ride in Equitation Over Fences opposite of Fresno State with the score of 83. In Equitation on the Flat, Madison Sellman was awarded the honor after scoring a 79 against the Bulldogs.
Carolina also picked up two MOPs against Baylor. Grady Lyman was honored in Equitation on the Flat with a high score of 72. In Reining, Jordan Scott took the honor with her winning score of 71.
Fresno State vs. South Carolina
In the Gamecocks’ first meet of the day on Friday, they started strong, claiming the Equitation Over Fences round, 4-1. Lyman earned her first-ever collegiate point with a, 74-70, win opposite of Erica Rosinski on Bravo. Brayman downed Cecily Hayes for an, 83-66, victory on Sawyer. Riding on EZ, Tyler Petrie claimed her sixth-straight fences win, topping Hana Beiling, 83-74. Taking the last point for Carolina, Lizzie van der Walde outscored Alex Dirickson by 20, 82-62, on Happy.
Competing in Horsemanship, South Carolina won two points and tied another. Madison Thiel started things off, edging by Hannah Buijs, 71-70, on Diesel. Quinn Brandt followed suit, winning, 68.5-65, on Bruno against Taeya Harle. Caroline Gute and Kameron Thorn earned the highest score of the event, tying at 75.5-75.5 on Zip.
“We had a solid performance against Fresno State on Friday,” head coach Boo Major said.” Our team continues to improve with each meet and they showed up again to compete this weekend against a good Fresno State team. Kudos to Eric Hubbard and his staff for putting on a great meet on Friday.”
With a, 6-3, lead after the break, the Gamecocks took three points in Equitation on the Flat. Winning her second point of the day, van der Walde outrode Grace Countrymann, 77-63, on Q. Mackenzie Suffy was victorious in a, 72-69, ride on Blue opposite of Brooke Nelson. Sellman closed out the event with an 11-point win, 79-68, over Beiling on Como.
Finishing with Reining, Carolina won a lone point and tied two others. Madison Thiel and Kara Gustafson knotted at 70.5-70.5 on CJ, while Gute and Allison Nordvall tied at 72.5-72.5 on Cooper. Claiming the Gamecocks’ only point, Scott earned a 75.5-0 win on KC over Lexee Padrick, clinching the, 10-7, victory for her team.
Baylor vs. South Carolina
The Gamecocks and Bears competed the first half of their meet on Friday evening, finishing the second half on Saturday morning.
Tying at 2-2 in Equitation on the Flat, Lyman edged by Rachel Davis, 72-71, on Tom. Scoring Carolina’s second point, Brayman downed Madison Day on Mac, 71-60.
South Carolina won just one point in Horsemanship opposite of BU. Gute’s 74.5 on Luke bested Kaylee Mellott’s 58, bringing the break score to, 5-3, Baylor.
“It was a real nail biter against Baylor,” Major stated. “I think going home Friday afternoon with only half a meet complete was helpful to our team because we were dragging a bit from the morning’s competition against Fresno State. Our team rode really well, but we knew we had to do a better job Saturday morning when we resumed the second half with fences and reining.”
After resting Friday night, the Gamecocks came ready for a battle on Saturday morning. Carolina won the Equitation Over Fences event, 3-1. Lyman outscored Shannon Hogue by 12 for a, 76-64, win on Tom. Brayman notched another point on the weekend, topping Catherine Moorhead, 77-75, on Indie. Rounding out the fences competition, Sellman outrode Day on Mac, 74-69.
In what continued to be a close meet, South Carolina and Baylor split the Reining portion, 2-2. Scott outlasted Georgia Smith, 71-70, for a point Gamecocks. Locked in a tight competition, Bridgett White gave the Gamecocks an 8-7 lead, downing Maggie Cincotta on Pep, 70.5-68.5. With just one ride left, Baylor’s Carly Salter topped Thiel, 72.5-71, on Noodle.
“Our team does not back down and kept fighting until the last point,” Major said. “We fought back from a two-point deficit on Friday to a tie in the end. When we went to raw scores none of us Gamecocks knew who won because we were too busy cheering on each other. It was a great feeling to learn we won the tiebreaker. This was a great way to end our fall season. I’m extremely proud of this team’s accomplishments and abilities to conquer the goals they are setting for themselves.”
Ending the meet at 8-8, the two programs went to the raw score to determine the winner. In the end, South Carolina scored more overall points than Baylor, defeating the Bears, 1139.5-1114.
Carolina resumes competition by hosting TCU on Saturday, February 9, at 10 a.m., at One Wood Farm in Blythewood.
