Gamecocks look to earn first road victory
South Carolina’s equestrian team (2-1) last competed nearly three weeks ago against Auburn in what turned out to be a heartbreaking defeat.
The long break has come at a good time for coach Boo Major and her team, giving them time to get over the tough loss and ready themselves for this weekend’s matchups against Southern Methodist and New Mexico State.
“What made it really tough was that we had an opportunity to win, but we weren’t able to pull it out,” Major said. “We had some missed opportunities and a few mistakes, but we also had some good breakout rides from some of our girls. This team is very focused so we have been able to put the Auburn game behind us and get ready for this weekend.”
USC will have freshmen Layla Choate and Katherine Schmidt back from their individual competitions that caused them to miss the Auburn match. Choate won the NHRA Youth Reining Championship in her absence.
Carolina begins the weekend with the match against SMU on Friday before facing New Mexico State Saturday. Due to the quick turnaround from one match to the other, Major has had to prepare for both teams at the same time, a feat that was made difficult by fall break.
“Fall break is a deserving time off for our girls, but it does limit our practice time,” Major said. “We are kind of rushing to prepare because of it, but it does make for good practice for nationals, since we get very little time to prepare then also.”
On top of that, Major has been shuffling around her Western lineup the past couple of weeks. This weekend will feature freshman Cody McMillion for the first time this season.
“We ran Cody in an exhibition ride at Auburn, just to see how she would do, and we were very impressed,” Major said. “New Mexico State is going to give us all we can take on the Western side, so we are going to see if Cody can continue the good work.”
SMU is 5-1 and enters the weekend fresh off an 8-0 shutout of Sacred Heart. The Mustangs are led by All-American Jordyn Petterson and freshman Emma Roberts, who has won two straight MVP awards.
“Winning against SMU won’t be easy,” Major said. “They have a strong Hunt Seat team. However, because of the circumstances, we get to participate with six Hunt Seat riders instead of the usual five, so that is a plus for us. They still have more matches under their belt, and therefore more experience, so it is going to be a challenge.”
New Mexico State will host USC with a 3-3 record and is on a two game winning streak, with its most recent victory coming against Delaware State.
“Overall New Mexico State has been a surprising team,” Major said. “They just beat Texas A&M 7-2 in Hunt Seat so that was really impressive. They have been up and down all season but regardless, it is always tough when you go on the road.”