USC aims to win at home before lengthy road trip
South Carolina’s equestrian team started its season last Friday with a dominant performance against Fresno State and will look to continue that dominance against TCU Friday afternoon in Blythewood.
Following the victory, coach Boo Major said that the team will prepare for the Horned Frogs no differently than it prepared for the Bulldogs.
“We are just going to continue what we’ve been doing, we don’t want to rest on our laurels,” Major said. “We just need to keep continuing to get better. I’m really pleased with how our horses were last week so I hope our horses will be just as good next weekend.”
USC took control from the start against Fresno State, ultimately finishing with a 16-3 victory. The match against TCU (0-1) will be the Gamecocks’ last at home before having to go on the road for three straight contests. With the tough stretch approaching, Major hopes USC will put up another strong performance at home this weekend.
“Before the season, we decided that we were going to try and go undefeated at home,” Major said. “That’s one of the goals we set and if we continue to go down the road and follow those goals, we will be fine.”
The Horned Frogs come into Blythewood after losing their season opener to SMU 6-4. They have a relatively young team with the exception of All-American junior Callie Selchau.
The Gamecocks will look for their freshmen to compete at the same level they did last week when both Katherine Schmidt and Layla Choate won MVP awards in their collegiate debuts.
“It is so exciting because I didn’t expect to win an MVP and my roommate Layla was able to win one too,” Schmidt said. “I didn’t even think I would be riding that much freshman year. Hopefully I can practice the same this week as I did last week and we’ll see how it goes against TCU.”
Choate and Schmidt weren’t the only freshmen to record wins, however, with both Catherine Pasmore and Amber Henter posting victories in their rides as well. The performance of the freshmen, along with veterans like Kimberly McCormack and Johnna Letchworth, provided Carolina with an edge they did not have last year.
Major and company hope the team can replicate the performance it had last Friday and remain consistent heading into the matchup with TCU.
““TCU has a strong team, so we will be challenged,” Major said. “I am looking for our team to be as motivated to win as they were last week.”