iders of the Month (September 2016)Equitation Over

NEW YORK -- Its a Sunday morning in Brooklyn, NY and as cars zoom through Atlantic Avenue outside, theres as much if not more commotion inside Barclays Center. At ESL One New York, Counter-Strike fans are preparing for an unexpected semifinal showdown between Commonwealth of Independent States team Natus Vincere (Na`Vi) and North American squad Team Liquid. American flags wave in the crowd as Liquid jerseys are plentiful around the arena -- the last remaining North American team inspires more fanfare than any other squad among the 8,500 spectators in attendance.Liquid hasnt had stellar results recently, save for a second place finish at ESL One Cologne in July, and star Spencer HiKo Martin says hes just happy that they made it out of the Swiss groups and into the semifinals of the event.Semifinals were our goal. If we made semifinals we would be happy, HiKo tells ESPN. If we made it out of groups, it would be a good thing for us. Things went our way, things didnt go our way. Things were stacked against us; [at] every possible chance we had to [play] a worse team or better schedule, we never had the chance. We had to play Fnatic twice. Im happy we made it out of groups.Liquid has struggled to find their footing over the past few months since picking up Jacob Pimp Winneche in place of former star AWPer Oleksandr s1mple Kostyliev, who moved on to Na`Vi. Since the change, Liquid has been off its stride and has floundered repeatedly online, most recently failing to qualify for ELeague Season 2.HiKo says that integrating Pimp has been a challenge and that no longer playing with s1mple has drastically changed their playstyle.With s1mple, the team was about setting s1mple up, making sure he was happy, making sure he had the gun he wanted, and making sure everything was going his way, he explains. Now its more about [Nicholas nitr0 Cannella], [Jonathan EliGE Jablonowski] and [Josh jdm64 Marzano, with] me and Pimp supporting them. The team looks different, it feels different, and were just trying to adapt to it.He also says that unlike its peers OpTic Gaming and Cloud9, Liquid didnt practice during the month of downtime after ELeague Season 1 ended in July. During that break, Pimp was moving to the United States from his home in Denmark, which also affected the teams ability to practice.Not only with us losing s1mple but also with taking a month and a half off, when Pimp was in the transition from moving from Denmark to the US, we all just took time off, had a vacation, and coming back not everyone was really into it, everyone was rusty, no one had really practiced hard during that break, he says. [Were] not using that as an excuse, [its] just taking a little bit of time for us to gather our thoughts and gather our momentum and keep pushing it and moving forward.But despite the obstacles, HiKo seems happy with their team. In April 2015, HiKo had expressed his interest in building a super team with rumored ties to AWPer Tyler Skadoodle Latham, who is now on Cloud9. Although that effort didnt work out, he was the architect for the addition of s1mple, Pimp and AWPer jdm64 to Liquid.I would say [this is what I wanted in a super team], HiKo reflected. What my team looks like moving forward can always change, but for right now, I think Im happy with where were headed, with how our preparations went. We have to be doing something right [since we were the last] American team left in this tournament. Were consistently making it out of groups, making deep runs at these European events or American events with primarily European teams. Theres nothing sad about it, Im happy with it and we will keep moving forward.Now, with the Avengers assembled, HiKo and team will need to get their act together if they want to perform at a high level at the recently announced ELeague major in Atlanta in January. They have Legends status from their second place finish at ESL One Cologne, the previous major, meaning they will not have to go through a qualifier to get a spot and a high seed at the ELeague major.I think well be in a pretty good spot [for the ELeague major in January], he says hopefully. Im expecting big things at least. Im always expecting to make it out of groups. Its unfortunate that we didnt qualify for the [regular] ELeague [tournament] and its not looking very good for the ESL Pro League in Brazil, but again, were just looking to the future. Were using what were learning at this event, our map pool and personality stuff, using it as a learning experience and refine ourselves moving forward.As we interview, HiKos family -- his mother, father, and sister -- listen and watch anxiously. Its their first esports event, and HiKos mother tells me it wont be their last. Both his mom and dad say they werent initially supportive of their sons video game hobby, but theyre proud of the career hes built for himself over time.Obviously, we were not happy, his mother says. There was lots of yelling and screaming, Get off the computer, do your homework, go out and play outside. But thats what every mother says and thats what every kid on the computer says -- Ok, no problem. We were wrong and he did what he had to do and were proud of him, so it worked out well. Its a strange world with this whole gaming thing, as far as Im concerned. But hes done well and were very proud of him.His father echoes the sentiment and his sister, who says she played video games with HiKo as children, says she didnt quite understand Counter-Strike but is also proud.I think it just speaks volumes to where Spencers at, his dad says. Hes a player [whos] got a lot of talent. This was his own idea. He put it in motion and nobody helped him, except for maybe a little advice here or there. But its his baby. Its great.His mother interjects and says that theyll most likely go to another event, maybe even the ELeague major in January.But like many Counter-Strike players, HiKo, 26, is older than the average esports athlete. While many havent thought of their careers post-competing, HiKo has created a brand around himself through themed clothing, livestreaming and interacting with fans and companies. He says when its time to hang up the mouse, he has no intention to leave esports.Theres no doubting that Im definitely on the older end of the scale, he explains. I dont have any illusions that Ill eventually be phased out and Ill have to retire. Long-term in my life, I can see myself being involved in esports and involved in this whole community. 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Collected her first two official career victories and her first two M.O.P. honorsHelped the Gamecocks go 9-1 combined in fences in their two meets against top-10 opponentsHad the highest score in both the Texas A&M and Baylor meets over fencesEquitation On The Flat Rider of the Month: Maddie Swem, Texas A&MEarned her first career victory at UT Martin ? Helped clinch the victory at #8 South Carolina as the Aggies Flat squad defeated the Gamecocks, 3-2, in the final eventWon her points by ann average score of 10.dddddddddddd5Horsemanship Rider of the Month: Sarah Orsak, Texas A&MCompiled a 2-0 record in September while garnering an MOP at No. 8 South CarolinaOrsaks MOP honor was the second of her career ? Led the Horsemanship squad to a 3-0 shutout over the GamecocksAveraged a team-high 74 during the monthReining Rider of the Month: Madison Thiel, South CarolinaHad the highest score of any rider in the Baylor meet and won her first career M.O.P. honorScored a crucial early point in the Texas A&M meet with another strong score. ' ' '