Gamecocks Crush No. 5 Georgia 14-5 on Senior Day
Blythewood, S.C. – The No. 3 South Carolina equestrian team vanquished the No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs, 14-5, on Saturday at OneWood Farm. Carolina claimed three of the four Most Outstanding Player honors on the day as the team celebrated senior day in style.
Junior Taylor Kellam had the best ride of her career to earn her first M.O.P. for horsemanship with a 78.5 point-ride on Amos. Fellow junior McKenzie Duncan continues to be a steady anchor for the reining squad by earning her third M.O.P. award of the season with her 70 on Wrangler. Freshman Madeline Schaefer came to play for her seniors today, scoring an 89 on Batman to win her third fences M.O.P. of the year.
The Gamecocks (6-4, 3-2 SEC) opened the day on the flat where senior Madison Sellman set the tone early with an 80 on Quentin, tying Georgia’s Ali Tritschler. Junior Caroline Bald earned the first point of day with her 79 on Joe on the next ride. After the Bulldogs took a point to even things up sophomore Grady Lyman strolled into the arena and dropped an 84-point ride on Cita to regain the lead, 2-1. Despite notching an 85 on Cal, her second highest score of the season, junior Louisa Brackett conceded the point to the M.O.P. on the flat, Maddy Darst, as the Gamecocks and Bulldogs were tied 2-2 after the flat wrapped up.
Carolina has struggled in reining at times this season, but today was not one of those times. Georgia’s Julia Spreng took the first point, but the next four went to Carolina. Senior Jordan Scott made the most of last ride at home with a 72.5 on Magnum, while fellow senior Caroline Gute took a point with her 64 on Stoner. Freshman Natalie Vargo keep the momentum going with her 69.5 on Chex and junior McKenzie Duncan finished reining with her M.O.P. winning 70 on Wrangler to give the Gamecocks a 6-3 lead at halftime.
Business picked up coming out of the break when sophomore Alice Kass took the first point of her career with a 77-point ride on Cal. Freshman Jordan Allen added to the lead with a staggering 91-point ride on Kenny, the highest fences score of the season for the Gamecocks. Fellow freshman Madeline Schaefer took her third M.O.P. award of the season with an 89 on Batman, while Louisa Brackett avenged her loss on the flat with a blazing 90-point ride on Joe to finish off fences 4-1 for Carolina, and securing a win as the Garnet and Black held a 10-4 lead heading into horsemanship and after the tie earlier in the meet Georgia couldn’t close the gap.
Not content to coast into a victory the Gamecocks went for the throat in horsemanship. Taylor Kellam opened things with her 78.5 on Amos, and Caroline Gute made it a clean sweep for her senior day going 2-0 with a 70 on Jazz. Freshman Cora Wyers earned her first win with a 73.5 on Tulip, and fellow freshman Natalie Vargo put the exclamation point on the day with a 74.5 on Layla to secure the 14-5 win.
Notables
- The Gamecocks improved to 6-4, and 3-2 in the SEC. This is the best the Garnet and Black has done in the SEC since the 2014-15 team posted a 4-2 record in conference.
- Taylor Kellam tallied the best score of her career with a 78.5 on Amos, earning M.O.P. honors for the first time. This is also the highest horsemanship score for any Gamecock this season.
- Madeline Schaefer continues to impress as she took her third M.O.P. honor of the season with her 89-point ride on Batman. This is her third ride of 85-plus points, and she fell one point away from tying her career high score of 90.
- McKenzie Duncan reigns supreme over the reining squad this season with her third M.O.P. win of the year. She’s tied for the team lead with seven reining wins and leads the team in reining M.O.P. awards with three.
- After narrowly missing out on a point in the last meet Jordan Allen left no doubt today scoring a 91, the best fences score of the year for the Gamecocks. She improves to 5-2-0 on the season.
- Coming off her career-best fences score of 87 against Texas A&M Louisa Brackett shattered her own record with a 90-point ride on Joe. The junior has a 6-2-0 record this year in over fences.
Next Up
The Gamecocks close out their SEC slate with a trip to No. 1 Auburn (11-0, 4-0 SEC) next week. Action is set to being at Noon ET from the Auburn Equestrian Center on Saturday, February 29.
