Equestrian championships are nothing new to Aiken County, but a group of local students plowed some new territory during the past year in helping USC Aiken earn its first-ever championship in eventing.
The U.S. Eventing Association has the Pacers as its reigning intercollegiate champions, as the 2022-23 squad bagged first place in the country, edging out such traditional powers as Auburn and Kentucky in a competition held in late May in Tryon, North Carolina.
This year, the Pacers will be within an hour's ride — by horse — to the national event, as the championship is to be decided May 4-5 just north of Aiken, at Stable View, one of the state's top equestrian facilities.
The champs, competing with a variety of much larger programs for the national title almost a year ago, got their top score from Sydney Shinn, from Egg Harbor, N.J. Shinn rode Crypto to the lowest intercollegiate finishing result of the entire competition and helped seal the deal for USCA, which had five riders on board for the national event.
Dozens of the team's major boosters got a chance to salute the team Oct. 25, in Aiken, at a gathering at Bruce's Field. The Mane Event included the unveiling of a highway sign, now on duty a few yards from U.S. 1, to help proclaim USCA's new honor.
Fans, aside from following the team on Instagram, have a variety of opportunities to catch team members in action without having to leave the Aiken-Augusta area.
The eventing program at USCA dates back to 2018 and this is the team's first national team title. The team's existence is reportedly a relatively new concept for some of the Pacers' competitors.
"It's gotten a lot better. The school is becoming pretty popular," said team member Heidi Gyselinck, from Charleston.
"As the town of Aiken population increases, they're getting a lot more students, so that's good for them and us. We've been getting a lot of emails from parents of … kids in all different grades of high schools, and messages on the Instagram from girls who just got accepted or are looking to get accepted."
Completing this year's roster are Maggie Knotts, from Camden; Wesley Anne Norton, Newnan, Ga.; Katilyn Ingraham, Tabernacle, N.J.; Sophia Brady-Owen, Lanesborough, Mass.; Jillian Treu, Burnsville, Minn.; Sam Keats, Rohnert Park, Calif.; and Carson Langenberg, San Diego.
"The chancellor's been nothing but supportive," Langenburg said, referring to Dr. Daniel Heimmermann, who took the helm at USCA in July 2021.
"He's been always asking us if we need anything — constantly checking up on us," she said. "It's really, really nice to know that we have his support, and the school seems to be really, really warming up to the idea that we're a sports team, we're here, we're doing stuff, and we deserve to be taken seriously."
