Despite hard losses, team stays close
On Feb. 4, South Carolina’s season looked bleak. The team squandered an early lead against the No. 2 team in the country, losing seven of the final ten points of the match to fall 11-8.
The loss was the Gamecocks’ fourth in a row and USC’s record stood at an unimpressive 3-5 overall and 0-3 in the SEC. Team morale was low, energy level was down; they had given up on the season.
At least, that’s what outsiders would think.
This team’s reaction? Optimism — the same outlook they keep, win or lose.
“The girls keep a great attitude about the outcome, even if it isn’t what they want,” said head coach Boo Major. “I think that’s the good thing about this team. If they know they did as well as they could or that they can improve on their mistakes, they’re not going to get down on themselves.”
To say the team keeps a glass half-full look on everything would be an understatement. Unlike other teams, who in times of defeat will often fall apart and point fingers, this team takes the opposite approach, coming together as a team.
When asked if the loss at Georgia was the “low point” of the season, senior Horsemanship rider Taylor Singmaster laughed at the idea.
“I wouldn’t call it a low point,” she said. “The closeness and togetherness of our team was at an all-time high, for sure.”
No, that is not a misprint — after four straight losses by two points or less, the team was closer than it had ever been.
“The one thing that we talked about is that our day is going to come,” Major said. “We will be successful; we do have a very good team.”
That day came this past Saturday, when USC beat No. 1 Auburn 12-6. The very next day, Senior Day in fact, the team rolled over No. 4 Baylor, 15-4. USC scored the final 14 points of the Baylor match.
“It was very emotional,” Major said. “I was very nervous that after that emotional high on Saturday, they were going to stumble on Sunday. But we preached to the girls to concentrate on riding our best (Sunday), and they really did that.”
The weekend served as a farewell to the team’s seniors, who finished their South Carolina careers with the victories.
“We got to the end of the day where I was the last person to ride, and I had to ride against the highest score of the day,” said senior and team captain Maggie Fortune. “I was a little nervous, to say the least, on a horse that I’ve never rode. I got to the end of the pattern and my entire team and everyone there was 100 percent rooting for me, and it was just a great feeling. It was awesome to know that this is my senior day, and my entire team is literally behind me right now.”
Fellow senior Equitation rider Colvin Hedgepath, who is part of the Hunt Seat team that is 9-2 and undefeated since last October, knew the team had it in them to put it all together.
“I think we know how much potential we have,” said Hedgepath, who had a win both Saturday and Sunday. “We have a whole lot of depth and talent so when we were losing by ties or one point, it didn’t feel as bad as a loss, because we knew that we were right there and that eventually everything was going to come together,” she said. “It wasn’t that we were making mistakes; just everything wasn’t lining up our way. We just had perseverance. Every time we talked after a loss, it was never getting down on ourselves, it was always looking forward to the next meet.”
After a lengthy break, the Gamecocks will play a road match at Delaware State on March 16 before heading to the Southern Equestrian championships and then finally nationals in late March and mid-April.