Letchworth earns 18th MVP; equestrian prepares for No. 1 Georgia
Going into this past weekend, South Carolina equestrian had outscored its opponents 32-7 over the first two meets. Coach Boo Major was expecting closer scores as they headed to Delaware to take on Delaware State and SMU, but the coach’s caution was unnecessary.
South Carolina defeated host Delaware State 14-4 and SMU 12-4 to improve to 4-0 on the season.
The Gamecocks have now outscored their opponents 58-15 over the four-game stretch.
“I don’t think my team was pleasantly surprised; I think they knew they were going to do that,” Major said. “You always hope you’re going to get a performance like that on the road, so I am pleased with how things turned out.”
Now, the Gamecocks will prepare to host No. 1 Georgia this Friday in Blythewood. Major is expecting a close meet again, and for good reason. The Bulldogs are 1-0 this season with a 16-3 victory over Fresno State.
South Carolina also handled Fresno State with a score of 17-2 in the second meet of the season.
“Obviously [Georgia] is a powerhouse; they have always been a powerhouse,” Major said. “We know we have our work cut out for us. We know it’s not going to be a walk in the park against them.”
When South Carolina takes on Georgia, it will have a new school leader in MVP awards. Senior Johnna Letchworth picked up her 18th career MVP with a reining victory against SMU, surpassing Kimberly McCormack’s (2009-2013) record of 17 set last season.
Ironically, Letchworth, who has been a horsemanship rider the past four seasons, picked up the iconic MVP award for her reining performance. The fifth-year senior started doing double-duty because of the lack of depth at reining.
“We always wanted her to do reining and we started working on it last year but we didn’t really get it to where we were comfortable with putting her in,” Major said. “This year we were like, ‘OK, she is going in.’”
Letchworth said she likes doing both events because it allows her to mix it up a bit. As for her record-breaking performance, she said that it was exciting and she was glad that her parents were able to make the trek from Harwinton, Conn. to watch it.
“It just means that all the hard work is paying off and it’s cool that Kimmy (McCormack) is really close with me, so that was kind of neat,” Letchworth said.
There is a little more excitement in the air this week with the top-ranked Bulldogs coming into town. While Major said that all the meets are important, she acknowledged that she looks forward to the matchup with Georgia.
Major said the Gamecocks have developed good rivalries with both Georgia and Auburn because they play each other twice a year and are usually ranked among the top five.
And Major isn’t the only one looking forward to playing tough SEC competition.
“We usually get pretty excited when Georgia and Auburn come to town,” Letchworth said. “I think the coaches will make sure that we’re on our A-game.”
Students may also want to check out the top-five matchup out at One Wood Farm. Double loyalty points are being offered to the students that do attend the meet.