Equestrian: Amber Henter Named Assistant Hunt Seat Coach

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Amber Henter Named Assistant Hunt Seat Coach

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU equestrian head coach Carol Gwin announced on Wednesday that Amber Henter has been hired as the Mustangs' assistant hunt seat coach.

"We're really excited to welcome Amber to the SMU family," Gwin said. "I had the privilege of coaching Amber for three years at South Carolina and I'm really looking forward to teaming up with her again. We were a part of three championship-winning teams together and a national runner-up finish, so I've gotten to witness firsthand Amber's passion for winning and her commitment to her teammates. She will be a great addition to our staff."

Henter joins the SMU coaching staff after a successful stint as an assistant trainer under Shane Sweetnam at Sweet Oak Farm, one of the top showjumping barns in the nation. Prior to her stint at Sweet Oak Farm, Henter spent two years as an assistant trainer for Valerie Renihan at Findlay's Ridge, coaching and riding for clients of the facility.

"I'm beyond excited to be joining an elite program at SMU," Henter said. "In four years, Carol has transformed SMU's program into one of the very best in the nation and I'm thrilled to be a Mustang. I'd like to thank Carol, Rick Hart and Kris Harris for giving me this incredible opportunity to work at such a prestigious university with an extremely talented group of student-athletes. I'm really looking forward to working with Carol and McKenzie [Lantz] and helping our riders bring a National Championship to the Hilltop."

While at South Carolina, Henter was one of the top riders in the country, posting a career record of 61-26-1 from 2012-15. During her senior year, she went 23-6-1 with four Most Outstanding Player awards, earning her Ariat First Team All-America honors and a spot on the All-SEC Team.

Henter is the only Gamecock in program history to be selected as a team captain three years in a row (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15). Her 2015 graduating class is known as the "Four Rings in Four Years" class, as the Gamecocks won a national championship and three conference championships over a span of four seasons.

During her sophomore season in 2012-13, she helped lead South Carolina over Auburn to win the inaugural Southeastern Conference Championship. One year later, the Gamecocks clinched their second straight SEC Championship and became the first team in University of South Carolina history to win back-to-back SEC Championships.

During her senior year and third season in a row as team captain, Henter led the Gamecocks past all three 2015 conference champions (Fresno State, Baylor, Georgia) in Waco to win the NCEA National Championship.

Henter's addition to the SMU staff partners her with a former SEC rival in Mustangs' associate head coach McKenzie Lantz, who was also one of the top riders in the country while at the University of Georgia.

During the 2013-14 season, while Lantz was a team captain at Georgia and Henter was a team captain at South Carolina, the Bulldogs and Gamecocks went head-to-head four times in what is considered the most thrilling season series in NCEA history. After the SEC opponents split their regular season series with the Bulldogs winning at South Carolina in October and the Gamecocks winning at Georgia in February, the two squads faced off twice in a span of just three weeks with championships on the line both times.

At the SEC Championship, the Gamecocks beat Georgia in a 10-10 tiebreaker to win their second straight conference title. Three weeks later in Waco, Texas, Georgia knocked off the Gamecocks in an 8-8 tiebreaker to win the NCEA National Championship. South Carolina held a 7-5 lead late in the meet, but Lantz jump-started Georgia's comeback, winning her point 145-134.5 as the Bulldogs went on to win three of the last four points in the meet, clinching the championship.

"There was a four-year stretch when the South Carolina-Georgia rivalry was the top rivalry in our sport, and McKenzie and Amber were a big part of that," Gwin said. "Their teams went head-to-head for two conference championships and two national championships during that stretch and three of those four meets ended in tiebreakers. Amber and McKenzie have succeeded at the highest levels of this sport, both as national champions and SEC conference champions and their success as student-athletes will make them a great coaching team."

Henter graduated Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in hospitality and retail management.

SMU hosts Baylor on Sept. 14 in an exhibition meet at the Dallas Equestrian Center before opening the season on the road with meets at Sweet Briar (Sept. 21) and South Carolina (Sept. 22).