University of Georgia Athletics
Georgia Wins Southern Equestrian Championship
March 29, 2008 | Equestrian
COLUMBIA, S.C. --- The Georgia Equestrian team claimed its fourth straight title at the Southern Equestrian Championships here Saturday, but it surely didn't come easily.
The top-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 2 seed South Carolina, the defending national champions, avenging an 11-7 loss here last November. However, it took a tie-breaker, and the repeated re-counting thereof, to determine the champion.
After all four events, both Georgia and Carolina had totaled 10 points. Georgia claimed a 6-4 victory in the Hunt Seat competition, and the Gamecocks won the Western half by an identical score. The tie-breaker was determined by dropping each team's low score in both Hunt Seat and Western, and then adding the scores from the remaining 18 rides.
Scoring 695 in Hunt Seat and 636.5 in Western, Georgia's total of 1331.5 outlasted Carolina by a mere 1.5 points.
"We are thrilled to have won such a tight, close competition. It was a real nailbiter," Georgia coach Meghan Boenig said. "It was extremely gratifying to come here, where we struggled last fall, and win the way we did. They rode well. We rode well. It was like watching a national championship-caliber competition."
The Bulldogs took 3-2 victories in both Hunt Seat events. Sophomore Haylie Jayne was the team's only double winner on the day, taking a 2-point decision in Equitation and later winning a 4-pointer in the Fences competition. Other English winners for Georgia included Daisy Whelan and Kelly Bonau in Equitation and Kelley Cowperthwait and Kitt Ritter in Fences.
Western winners for Georgia were Kelley Mundrick and Laura Upton in Horsemanship, along with Kate Stewart and Sarah Locker in Reining. Though she didn't win her individual ride, freshman reiner Diandra St. Hilaire was Georgia's lone MVP ride for the day.
The Bulldogs won in Columbia for the first time since 2006. "I want to give kudos to all of our supporters who made the trip over," Boenig said. "There were times today where I wished they had actually quieted down a bit, but I know the girls really appreciated each and every one of them for being there."
Georgia improved to 11-2 for the season. The Bulldogs complete their 2008 season at the Varsity Equestrian National Championships on April 16-19 in Waco, Texas.
