Gamecocks Sweep Opening Day; Nine Named to NCEA All-Academic
WACO, Texas – The South Carolina equestrian team swept the opening day of competition at the NCEA Championships, winning all four event rides on Wednesday at the Extraco Events Center.
At the conclusion of riding, nine Gamecocks were honored on the NCEA All-Academic teams. Those on first team include: Louisa Brackett, Jordan Scott, Madison Sellman and Madison Thiel. On the second team is, Quinn Brandt, McKenzie Duncan, Caroline Gute, Lizzie van der Walde and Bridgett White.
“Really good day (Wednesday),” head coach Boo Major said. “We’re very excited about all four of our event teams. For our reining team and our fences team to go 4-0 against two very good teams in TCU and Fresno State made me very excited. Having the other two teams winning 3-1 and getting it to where there wasn’t a tie showed that these girls are here to play. That’s what I like to see – that they are here to go. They are here to win and do the best they can. I have no doubt that they’ll be doing that (Thursday).”
Starting out the day with Equitation Over Fences and Reining, the Gamecocks rode to, 4-0, victories in each event. In Horsemanship, South Carolina tallied a, 3-1, win over Fresno State. Seeing the Bulldogs again in Equitation on the Flat, Carolina earned another, 3-1, victory to complete the day.
Finishing fences against Fresno State first, Madison Brayman earned the first point with her, 226-222, win over Aliva Hart on Mabel. Following, Tyler Petrie topped Alex Dirickson on Clever, 217-172. Bringing Carolina’s total to three, Grady Lyman defeated Cecily Hayes by 53, 256-203, on Kari. Closing out the event, Sellman won her point, 256-226, on Ringo opposite of Erica Rosinski.
Adding to the win, Lyman and Sellman tied for the highest score of the entire fences competition at 256.
Facing off against TCU in Reining, Gute got the Gamecocks rolling with a, 211-208.5, victory against Claire Dittrich on Mercedes. Up next, Scott outrode Elena Hurd on Carlie, 211.5-208. Getting another point for the Gamecocks, Thiel earned a, 204.5-200.5, win over Carly Lombard on Peanut. Clinching the sweep, White downed Jamie Cook on Boss, 213-208.5.
Seeing more high numbers in the first Western event of the day, White, Scott and Gute led the Reining event with their high-scoring rides.
In Horsemanship, Gute outscored Brooklyn Moch by 14, 219-205, on Hannah, claiming the first point of the event. Getting the second point, Thiel edged out Nicole Campbell on Ollie, 218.5-216.5. With suspense building around a Bulldogs’ ride under review, Brandt eventually came out on top over Alexis Miller by a half of a point, 201.5-201, on Shirley, clinching the event.
Finishing the day with Equitation on the Flat, Brayman earned a point for her team with a commanding, 229-207, victory over Dirickson on Rosie. Competing on Calvin, van der Walde won her ride by 12 points, downing Hana Bieling, 212-200. Sellman ended the event on a high note, defeating Hayes by 46 points, 219-173, atop Biggie.
NCEA All-Academic First Team
Louisa Brackett
Jordan Scott
Madison Sellman
Madison Thiel
NCEA All-Academic Second Team
Quinn Brandt
McKenzie Duncan
Caroline Gute
Lizzie van der Walde
Bridgett White
“We’re looking forward to a great day of competition (Thursday),” Major said. “The competition will get stiffer and we’re looking forward to another day of very good competition with some great opponents.”
Up next, No. 7 South Carolina takes on No. 2-seeded Texas A&M at 9:35 a.m. ET in the quarterfinals of the team competition.
Live scoring is available for the meet and can be found on gamecocksonline.com on the equestrian schedule page.
Continue to check back with gamecocksonline.com for more updates or follow the team on social media (@GamecockEQ).
