Gamecocks Hold Off No. 5 Aggies For Season Sweep
Blythewood, S.C. – The No. 4 South Carolina equestrian team held off strong competition from the No. 4 Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday to get a 10-10 tiebreaker win at OneWood Farm.
After conceding the first point of the meet to the Aggies, the Gamecocks (5-4, 2-2 SEC) got on the board thanks to sophomore Grady Lyman and her 82-point ride on Joe to make it 1-1. Senior Madison Sellman put the Gamecocks up 2-1 with her 84 on Toby. The Aggies tied things up by taking the fourth flat point, but junior Louisa Brackett came through with a 79 on Quentin to get the point and seal a 3-2 flat win. Brackett wasn’t finished for the day though, she had something brewing for her fences ride.
Carolina came out strong in reining with senior Caroline Gute taking the first point with her 68.5 on Nike. Freshman Natalie Vargo kept things rolling with a 65 on Chex to win the second point, and junior McKenzie Duncan made it three-for-three with her 66.5-point ride on Stoner. A&M took the final two points, but the Gamecocks still carried a 6-4 into the break.
The second half got started with some over fences action, and freshman Madeline Schaefer picked up where she left off last week by scoring an 80 on Cal to get the first point. After the Aggies took the next two points Louisa Brackett evened things up with an 87-point ride, a new career high, to earn the point and Most Outstanding Player honors. This is Brackett’s first fences M.O.P. and the second overall M.O.P. of her career. The Aggies took the final fences point, cutting the Carolina lead to one, 8-7, heading into the horsemanship finale.
The Garnet and Black rode hard early on in horsemanship with Gute tying her season-high with a 74.5, and junior Gabby Brassard notching a 72.5, but lost both points to A&M, giving the Aggies a 9-8 lead. Texas A&M stacked the deck against the Gamecocks by taking the third horsemanship point, making it 10-8, but just like when the Gamecocks faced off with the Aggies in College Station, this would come down to the very end. Natalie Vargo earned her fourth horsemanship win of the season with a 72.5 on Tulip, and junior Taylor Kellam picked the best possible time to end a three-ride losing streak by notching a 71 on Layla to make it 10-10. With the overall score being the tiebreaker the Gamecock’s strong marks throughout the meet paid off as Carolina took the victory, 1,421.5-1,358.
Notables
- With this win the Gamecocks earned their first regular season sweep of Texas A&M since the 2012-13 season.
- Louisa Brackett notched a new career high over fences score with 87. With her pair of wins today she leads the team with seven flat wins and overall with 12 wins when her flat and fences wins are combined.
- Madison Sellman tied her season high flat score of 84. The senior has been the sign of consistency for Carolina as she’s posted a 6-2-0 record on the flat.
- Caroline Gute continues to set the example for the team when it comes to reining as she improves to 6-1-2 on the season.
Next Up
The Gamecocks are off next week ahead of hosting No. 3 Georgia in the home finale and senior day. That meet is set for a 1 p.m. ET start on Saturday, Feb. 22 at OneWood Farm.
