UT Martin Equestrian Adds Plenty Of Hardware As ECAC Postseason Awards Announced
On the eve of its 2025 Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship debut, the University of Tennessee at Martin claimed a plethora of awards as 11 separate Skyhawks combined for 15 all-league accolades.
UT Martin was responsible for three of the four major award winners as Gabby Adams (Flat), Mia McAfoos (Horsemanship) and Elise Mason (Reining) won ECAC Rider of the Year honors. In addition, Payton Lussen was crowned as the ECAC Flat Freshman of the Year at the league’s postseason banquet this evening.
The Skyhawks racked up on All-ECAC recognition as UT Martin boasted four of the five members of the All-ECAC reining squad in Mason, Lexi Bailey, Logan Putvinski and Kate Davis. The Skyhawks also landed a trio of riders (McAfoos, Lillian Laney, Bailey) on the All-ECAC horsemanship team while securing a pair of All-ECAC flat performers (Adams, Bridget Vieau) and one All-ECAC fences honoree (Elizabeth Becker). Riley Hayes was also tabbed as a 2024-25 ECAC Sportsmanship Award winner to cap off a record-setting evening for UT Martin equestrian.
The Skyhawks’ three conference Riders of the Year are one-third of the program’s all-time tally as UT Martin had six such honorees before tonight’s announcement. The Skyhawks’ 10 all-conference riders are also the most in UT Martin history for a single season, eclipsing the previous mark of six set in 2023-24.
Adams becomes just the third rider in Skyhawk history to be named a conference Flat Rider of the Year, joining Mia Bray (2015 United Equestrian Conference) and Abbie Hopkins (2020 ECAC). Adams paces the team in victories (eight – two coming against her counterpart from No. 1 Auburn), MOP’s (four) and scoring average (83.1) in flat while also posting one tie in head-to-head competition. She recorded MOP efforts against South Dakota State twice (Oct. 5 and Nov. 15), No. 1 Auburn (Oct. 26) and Delaware State (Feb. 21). The sophomore from Burton, Ohio won six consecutive decisions from Oct. 5 through Nov. 16, managing a career-best score of 93 points against No. 5 Oklahoma State on Oct. 19. She was named the ECAC Flat Rider of the Week on both Oct. 8 and Oct. 29, leading to an ECAC Flat Rider of the Month accolade in October.
A senior out of Alton, Ill., McAfoos is the first-ever UT Martin representative to receive conference Rider of the Year status in horsemanship – joining her teammate Bailey as the only riders in school history to earn at least two all-conference nods in horsemanship. McAfoos accounts for team-highs of eight wins and four MOP’s in horsemanship, claiming a trio of those MOP’s in three consecutive meets (against South Dakota State on Nov. 15, at Delaware State on Nov. 16, against Minnesota-Crookston on Feb. 7) before earning her fourth MOP medal of the season at No. 7 South Carolina on March 8. She established a career-high 76.5 points in both of the MOP performances against Delaware State and South Carolina. She was a two-time ECAC Horsemanship Rider of the Week, receiving those honors on Nov. 19 and Feb. 11, the latter coming three days after she won her head-to-head matchup against an opponent from No. 1 Auburn.
Mason is the fourth Skyhawk to claim a conference Rider of the Year award in reining, joining the likes of Noel Meadows (2019 UEC), Hannah McDonald (2021 ECAC) and Emma Schaefer (2024 ECAC). In 11 appearances in the starting lineup, Mason registered nine wins, three MOP’s and a team-best 70.2 scoring average, capturing those MOP medals at South Dakota State (Oct. 5), against No. 1 Auburn (Oct. 26) and against No. 4 SMU (Feb. 22). The sophomore from Olympia, Wash. set career-high scores with 73’s in both the aforementioned Auburn and SMU meets. She owned a seven-meet winning streak from Oct. 5 through Feb. 7.
Bursting onto the scene this season was Lussen, who becomes only the eighth UT Martin representative to be named a conference Freshman of the Year and the third such honoree in flat (joining 2017 UEC recipient Randi LaChance and 2019 UEC winner Kelby Kane). Hailing from Columbia, Conn., Lussen made her season debut on Feb. 7 and immediately took off – reeling off three straight head-to-head victories. That stretch included a Feb. 8 win over her counterpart from No. 1 Auburn while she set a career-high in scoring two weeks later with 82 points against No. 4 SMU.
Cementing her legacy as one of the program’s all-time greats is Bailey as tonight’s honors mark her fifth All-ECAC nod in the last three seasons. The senior out of Union Mills, Ind. is the only Skyhawk to nab three all-conference awards in horsemanship and the only rider in program history to win all-conference honors in two separate events in multiple seasons. In horsemanship, she posted a 6-4-2 record (including an Oct. 26 win over Auburn) with a pair of MOP’s – receiving top honors in back-to-back meets at South Dakota State (74.5 points on Oct. 5) and against UC Davis (career-best 77 points on Oct. 18). She won five of her first six decisions in horsemanship and was named that event’s ECAC Rider of the Week on Oct. 8 and Oct. 29, leading to ECAC Rider of the Month honors for October. In reining, she came away with a 6-4-2 head-to-head record that included a whopping four MOP’s which ranked as a team-high. Her MOP’s included standout performances against UC Davis (Oct. 18), at Delaware State (season-best 73 points on Nov. 16), against Minnesota-Crookston (Feb. 7) and against Delaware State once again (Feb. 21). She defeated her counterpart from No. 1 Auburn on Oct. 26 and was named ECAC Rider of the Week on Nov. 19.
Putvinski earned her second All-ECAC award in reining as she also was named to the illustrious squad in 2023. She owns a 10-2 record to lead all of the squad’s reining members in wins while producing a 70.1 scoring average and one MOP (against No. 10 Fresno State on Oct. 5). She began the season with seven victories in her first eight decisions and enters the postseason on a three-meet winning streak. Her season-high score of 72 points occurred in back-to-back days against Delaware State and No. 4 SMU on Feb. 21-22. The senior from Knoxville, Tenn. secured ECAC Reining Rider of the Week status on Oct. 8 and March 11 and was named ECAC Standout Student-Athlete for the month of February.
A senior out of Williamston, Mich., Davis officially bookends her career with an all-conference nod after being named the 2022 ECAC Freshman of the Year in reining. She went 7-4 in that event this season and currently brings a five-meet reining winning streak into the postseason, having not lost a decision since the fall finale on Nov. 16. She is coming off a season-best 72-point performance at No. 7 South Carolina on March 8, which was one of four victories she accrued over nationally ranked teams in 2024-25 (including a win over her counterpart from No. 1 Auburn on Feb. 8). She previously earned an ECAC award twice this season, claiming Rider of the Week honors on Feb. 11 and Rider of the Month accolades in October.
Laney, a sophomore from Rosebush, Mich., collects her first career All-ECAC award. She notched a 7-4 record with a 73.6 scoring average on the season, narrowly trailing McAfoos (eight wins, 73.7 average) for the team lead in both categories. Laney scored at least 72 points in 10 of her 11 starts and won five of her first six decisions – including a win over her opponent from No. 1 Auburn on Oct. 26. She tacked on a MOP award later on in the season courtesy of a career-best 77 points against Delaware State on Feb. 21. She received ECAC Horsemanship Rider of the Week honors on Feb. 25.
The only five-year member of the 2024-25 UT Martin squad, Vieau garnered five victories and a pair of MOP’s in flat. All five of her triumphs came during a seven-meet span from Oct. 19 through Feb. 21 as the graduate out of Syracuse, NY chalked up MOP status against No. 5 Oklahoma State (career-best 94 points on Oct. 19) and against Minnesota-Crookston (80 points on Feb. 7). She won ECAC Flat Rider of the Week awards twice (Oct. 22 and Feb. 11) and was also named both the NCEA and ECAC Standout Student-Athlete for the month of October.
Becker comes away with the first All-ECAC mention of her career as the senior from Grosse Pointe, Mich. compiled a team-best seven victories and a team-high 82.0 scoring average in fences. Her one MOP also tied for the team lead as she picked up that award on Oct. 18 against UC Davis. She went on a five-meet winning streak from Oct. 5 through Nov. 15 and knocked off her counterpart from four ranked teams during the season – including a pair of victories over No. 1 Auburn where she set a career-high score of 87 points each time (Oct. 26, Feb. 8). She captured ECAC Fences Rider of the Week honors on three separate occasions (Oct. 22, Oct. 29, March 11) and was the ECAC Fences Rider of the Month in October.
A freshman who hails from Clarksburg, Calif., Hayes is one of five members to receive an ECAC Sportsmanship Award. In the arena, she competed as a flat demo rider against No. 4 SMU on Feb. 22. Outside of the arena, she has served as the public address announcer at home meets amongst other crucial gameday responsibilities. Academically, she is an agricultural business and marketing major who earned UT Martin Athletic Director Honor Roll accolades during the 2024 fall semester.
The Skyhawks will take on No. 4 seed South Dakota State in the ECAC Championship semifinals tomorrow at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex, squaring off against the Jackrabbits at 10 a.m.
