No. 3 Texas A&M equestrian hosted No. 8 South Carolina for its first SEC home match at the Hildebrand Equine Complex. The Aggies dominated on Friday afternoon with an impressive 17-2 win over the Gamecocks.
A&M started off down early 0-1 to the Gamecocks in the Flat event, with South Carolina’s freshman Amira Kettaneh scoring the first point for the Gamecocks. The Aggies quickly turned it around, led by senior Brooke Brombach securing their first point by scoring an 86 on Misty. Devan Thomas, Rylee Shufelt and Devon Thomas also picked up points for the Aggies in the Flat event, scoring 80 on Diana, 79.5 on Sparky and a 77 on Zena, respectively.
Entering the Reigning event up 4-1, the Maroon and White continued to tack on points with help from sophomore Isabelle Gonzales scoring a 72 on Uvalde. The Aggies shut out the Gamecocks in the reigning event, tacking on five points to their lead. Mattie Gustin (71), Gracie Casebolt (70.75), Anna Harris (70) and Lauren Hanson (67.5) all tallied points for the Aggies during reigning.
Sophomore Kate Egan led the Fightin’ Farmers during the Fences event with an impressive score of 84.5 on Peter. The Aggies had a total score of 403.5 during this event and tallied three more points from Egan, Devon Thomas (83) and Brombach (80). South Carolina scored 1 point during this event from freshman Alyssa Bauer scoring an 81 on North.
A&M ended the day with Horsemanship and junior Kaitlyn Bloom led the pack scoring a 75 on Sally — putting the Aggies up 13-2. The Maroon and White were able to add on points during the Horsemanship event, once again shutting out the Gamecocks with a dominating performance.
Bloom took home her first MOP award last week against Georgia and has led this team in the Horsemanship event this season. Millie Landon, Kendall Dirksen, Hanna Olaussen and Ellie Gerbrant wrapped up the day for the Maroon and White adding on the last four points of the day.
“There was a bit of a home field advantage, but to be able to shut them out like that because of some good rides is impressive,” said coach Tana McKay. “It goes to show that these girls are consistent and it’s literally just another day at the office. They are just doing their jobs.”
The Aggies are staying home next week hosting the 5-1 TCU Horned Frogs at the Hildebrand Equine Complex on Friday, Nov. 1st.
