Feb. 6, 2005

The Georgia equestrian team galloped to a narrow 1206.09-1189.7 victory on the road against South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in an exciting finish that came down to the final event.

"It was definitely a nerve racking day," Georgia head coach Meghan Boenig said.

The Bulldogs trailed by .35 points after three events, but Georgia's reiners performed under pressure, winning four of five rides, to close the day with a 293.04-275.6 victory on the event and the overall win. Junior Sarah Meier marked the largest spread of any reiner, defeating South Carolina's Rachel Sternoff 75.48-65.49.

"The pressure was really on the reiners," assoicate head coach Beth Bass said. "The whole team was behind them and cheering. Having the support of their teammates really put them over the edge."

Georgia's English riders then redeemed themselves in equitation over fences with a 317.9-310 victory, as junior transfer Logan Fiorentino marked the largest spread in a 79-65.9 win.

"English was really, really consistent," Boenig said. "Everybody had really high scores in the 70s and 80s.

The fences were just tremendous after the disappointing loss in equitation. We had some tough draws on some tough horses, but the girls really came through."

The Bulldog Western riders suffered a slim 278-280 defeat in horsemanship. Freshman Dana Kennedy provided a bright spot, however, by putting up the highest spread in a 77-62 defeat of South Carolina's Courtney Borton.

"That's what saved us in horsemanship," Bass said. "Horsemanship was very disappointing and not typical for us. We had poor rides for our ability and we have a lot to work on for next week."

Key to Georgia's win was the support of riders not on the traveling squad, the booster club, and other members of the Bulldog faithful.

"There were a tremendous number of girls from the team there," Boenig said. "We had more supporters than USC had."