Western team captain Audrey Jewell (left) and Hunt Seat team captain Amber Henter kiss the SEC Championship trophy the team brought home to their Blythewood farm.
The no. 6 University of South Carolina equestrian team captured the first-ever Southeastern Conference Equestrian Championship, defeating No. 2 Auburn 10-8 Saturday at the Auburn University Horse Center.
The Gamecocks (8-6), who ride out of One Wood Farm in Blythewood, were the event’s No. 2 seed. They defeated the top-seeded Tigers (11-3) 6-4 in hunter seat and tied 4-4 in western. South Carolina advanced to the championship round following a 10-7 win against third-seeded Georgia on Friday.
Saturday’s SEC Equestrian Championship marked the first new championship handed out in an SEC sport since softball in 1997.
“It means a whole lot to our program,” South Carolina head coach Boo Major said. “We’ve known that we’ve had it in us all year long, but you never know until you show up what’s going to happen. I think our girls just rode lights out yesterday and today. I think the girls just rode beautifully, and I can’t be more excited for them and more excited for our university and for coach [Ray] Tanner to bring the first SEC Equestrian trophy home to South Carolina.”
