South Carolina, Lynchburg Capture College Equestrian National Titles

The Gamecocks pulled out the victory thanks to an impressive 1696.08-1473 advantage in raw score, bringing home the program’s first national championship since 2015.

As an institution, South Carolina now has 10 varsity-level national titles, eight of which belong to women’s programs. The equestrian team leads the group with four, followed by women’s basketball at three. 

The moment was full circle for the Gamecocks and second-year head coach Carol Gwin. For a decade, Gwin worked to transform the SMU equestrian program from underdog to national powerhouse, winning back-to-back national titles in 2023 and 2024. She was lured back to Columbia by former South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner in early summer 2024. Gwin started her NCEA career as an assistant for former coach Boo Duncan from 2010-14 before going to Dallas. 

When Tanner talked to Gwin about the job, he noted the two had something in common – both had won back-to-back national titles in their respective roles as head coaches.

Tanner led South Carolina baseball to NCAA crowns in 2010 and 2011. He also made Gwin aware that she had the chance to accomplish a first in NCEA history as no coach had ever won a championship at two different institutions. 

A year after winning the program’s first SEC title since 2014, Gwin’s squad helped her reach the milestone.

“This team drank the Kool-Aid. I came in and said this is what we’re going to do and how we’re going to do it,” Gwin said. “It’s a lot that we were able to pull it off. I knew that we had a pretty good team. Playing in the SEC prepares you for this kind of stuff. It really does. It’s such a championship environment. It really prepares you.”

During the regular season, South Carolina (13-5) split matches with all three opponents they faced during their run through the bracket. The Gamecocks dispatched No. 5 SMU 11-8 on Thursday before posting the same score against top-seeded Auburn on Friday. 

The two prior meetings with the Aggies were both decided by large margins, with the wins going to the home team. South Carolina easily won 14-6 in October while Texas A&M took a 13-6 result in January. 

While Saturday’s championship meet was significantly more tense, it was also more rewarding. 

“I always knew we could do it, I just didn’t know if we were going to do it if that makes sense,” said senior horsemanship rider Carly Jenkins. “I think the SEC (championship) last year was a huge confidence booster. These have been kind of building years for us. I knew the team would eventually be winning big championships, I just didn’t realize it was going to be this soon.”

Lynchburg Re-establishes Dynasty

To outsiders, the Lynchburg equestrian program looked like it was going for its fourth NCEA single discipline national title in five years during Saturday’s championship meet with the College of Charleston. 

From Phillip Williamson’s perspective, it’s not as straightforward as it appears. 

Only two riders who competed in Ocala this week had previous experience on this stage and only one of them had contributed to the school’s previous championship run. 

The Hornets’ dynasty added another chapter thanks to a 6-3 win over the Cougars, albeit with new blood leading the way. 

“Three of those points were from freshmen and all but one of the points this year were from kids who had not competed in this venue before. We only had two starters back from last year. It’s been fun to do it with a different group of kids,” Williamson said. He serves as Lynchburg’s director of equestrian. “Everyone got their little jitters out and all that kind of stuff yesterday, and I think today we just laid it down. They were just super confident and didn’t let the nerves and all that get to them.”

On Friday, top-seeded Lynchburg battled No. 4 Sweet Briar in the semifinals for the third time this year. The programs traded home victories during the regular season, with the Vixens earning a raw score win on February 20. 

Almost two months later, the match once again came down to the wire, with the Hornets pulling out the raw score result, 787.33-774-33, after both teams won five rides each. 

That set up a season-bookending rematch with the Cougars. Back on September 26, Lynchburg opened the 2025-26 NCEA campaign with a 6-4 win against Charleston. They also dropped a 7-3 decision in Charleston this spring.

After being in a nip-and-tuck battle on Friday, the Hornets left no doubt from the outset. Lynchburg won fences 4-1 to take control before splitting the flat scores 2-2. 

“We were definitely feeling the pressure after yesterday. But today it all just came together,” said senior Abigail Zemp after earning Most Outstanding Performer on the flat. “I feel like a big part of (our success this year) is just believing in the new teammates and having them believe in you. That’s kind of been the word for this year – just having trust in each other and that really shined this weekend.”