Team has scored school-record 32 points through first 2 meets
When Katherine Schmidt first arrived at South Carolina, she expected to ride and compete, but she didn’t expect to be all that successful.
Three years and 51 wins later, Schmidt has seen a good bit of success. The junior has led the team in wins in each of her first two seasons and was named the AgSouth Female Athlete of the Year her freshman season. She has also racked up 12 MVPs in 68 rides.
Schmidt, who celebrated her 21st birthday on Wednesday, needs 21 more wins and six more MVP performances to pass former rider Kimberly McCormack as the school’s all–time leader in both categories.
“When I was told that I was an All–American at the end of my freshman year, it kind of hit me that, ‘OK, I’m all right at this,’” Schmidt said. “Luckily, I followed it up with a good sophomore season, too.”
Schmidt is a big reason why the Gamecocks are 2–0 this season after a 17–3 smashing of Fresno State and have outscored their opponents 32–7 through the first two meets. The 32 points in two meets is a school record.
“They rode extremely well and kept the pressure on throughout the whole competition (against Fresno),” coach Boo Major said. “That’s the most we can ask them to do. If they don’t let up and just keep competing no matter what, I think we have the opportunity to be real successful.”
South Carolina will now prepare to take part in two events in two days when they travel to Delaware to take on Delaware State and SMU on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Major said the two competitions in two weeks will help prepare her team for the tough task ahead of them this weekend. The team will fly to Delaware tomorrow, and Major said that she really isn’t too concerned with the back–to–back matches.
While SMU is debuting a Western team this season, Major said she expects them to not “be slackers” and that the Mustangs have always had a good Hunt Seat team. Since Delaware State has the home–field advantage, the coach expects a good fight from them as well.
“I think we’re going to have our work cut out for us,” Major said.
For Schmidt, the key to the early season success has been the fact that the team has “hit the ground running.”
If the Gamecocks are going to continue their hot streak, Schmidt will likely be a big factor in that. And if the past two years are any indication, the team should be in good hands.
Unlike some riders, Schmidt practiced with a variety of horses during her high school years because she was a working student at one of the biggest show barns in the country. Schmidt rode the clients’ horses around to keep them in shape and trained under highly touted equitation trainer Andre Dignelli.
That experience with a variety of horses has paid dividends for Schmidt in college and helped her become a top-15 rider coming out of high school in Connecticut.
“It’s a huge advantage,” Schmidt said. “If you have one horse, you can go and compete at a lot of horse shows, but you don’t get the experience of riding a different horse. I’ve ridden horses that are slow, horses that are fast, some that don’t like to jump and some that love it. So it helps me to have a lot of confidence in college riding.”
Another positive for Schmidt is that her sister, Chloe, is a freshman at South Carolina this season. However, the younger sister suffered a badly broken leg last spring and is still recovering from it.
Major said the sisters get along well and that it is evident that their parents raised them the right way by the way they act.
“Sometimes you get siblings and either they’re polar opposites or one of them outshines the other one,” Major said. “They have such a great relationship, and I certainly think that they will be able to help each other out.”
Katherine said that she is a glass-half-full kind of person while Chloe can be more of a glass-half-empty individual. Because of this, Katherine has been able to help her sister stay strong through her recovery process.
“She was really upset when I went to go see her in May in the hospital,” Katherine said. “She was heartbroken. I told her, ‘Chloe, you’re going to get better. Just be patient.’ I just kind of helped her stay positive and it was something that she definitely needed to hear.”