UT Martin Equestrian Breaks Through For Second Conference Championship In School History As Leiter-Janes’ Coach Of The Year Award Highlights Several All-Tournament Honors
Each of the last four seasons, the University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian season has ended in heartbreaking fashion – finishing as runner-up in the finals of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship tournament. But not this year. Not this team. A well-deserved league championship trophy years in the making is now in the hands of the Skyhawks after yet another down-to-the-wire decision went their way today as UT Martin broke a 10-10 tie with a raw points victory over two-time defending ECAC champion UC Davis at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex.
For the second straight day, late Skyhawk heroics led to a win. UT Martin led after each of the first two events but trailed 8-7 going into reining – the final event of the meet. The Aggies scored the first point but the Skyhawk trio of Kate Davis, Lexi Bailey and Logan Putvinski reeled off three straight victories to get UT Martin to its 10th point of the day. After UC Davis won the final head-to-head decision, approximately 20 minutes passed before the scores were tabulated and the Skyhawks were officially crowned as 2024-25 ECAC champions thanks to a 1,446.5-1,379.3 raw points tiebreaker.
The win gave UT Martin its second conference title and school history and first since the Skyhawks won the now-defunct United Equestrian Conference championship in 2012-13.
UT Martin claimed three points in fences, horsemanship and reining while tacking on another win in flat. Kate Mills earned her second MOP in as many days in fences while Ava Newsom picked up her first MOP of the 2024-25 campaign in horsemanship to pave the way for the Skyhawks, who tied the school record with their eighth victory of the season today.
Mills’ MOP effort of 82 points for her team-high eighth victory of the season got UT Martin’s day off to a great start. Bridget Vieau also earned her second win of the weekend with 81 points while Elizabeth Becker tied Mills for the team lead with eight triumphs after an 80-point ride. Emerson Maier (79.5 points) and Gabby Adams (72) were also members of the Skyhawk lineup.
After Davis’ score of 71 points led things off in horsemanship, UT Martin dialed up three straight victories. Mia McAfoos stayed perfect on the weekend with her team-best 10th victory after posting a score of 74.5 points. Newsom’s season-best 75.25 points led to MOP accolades before Bailey came away with her seventh victory of the season behind a 74-point ride. Lillian Laney (68 points) was the fifth and final participant for the Skyhawks in the event.
The Aggies seized the momentum with four points in five opportunities in flat. Adams’ 71.5 points were good enough for a UT Martin point as she garnered her team-high 10th win of the season, including an unblemished 2-0 mark this weekend. Rileigh Weiss (79 points), Vieau (67.5), Becker (65.5) and Payton Lussen (65.5) rounded out the Skyhawk lineup.
Aubrey Malone (65.25) had a tough draw as she was pitted against the eventual MOP winner to open reining. Davis continued her run as her seventh consecutive reining victory (and ninth win overall) came after a 68.25-point performance. Bailey’s 69.5 points from the first round of the event held strong for her seventh win of the season as her competitor was awarded zero points from the judges. Putvinski then powered through for a 69.75-point effort, completing a 2-0 weekend and securing her team-best 12th win to tilt the score back in favor of UT Martin at 10-9. After Elise Mason had already published a score of 67.5 points, UC Davis forced the tiebreaker but the Skyhawks had already done enough work to hoist the ECAC Championship trophy soon thereafter.
Following the event, numerous UT Martin riders were recognized for their contributions. Newson was named Horsemanship MOP and Mills received Fences MOP for the entire tournament while also earning a spot on the all-tournament squad for their respective events. Davis was named to the All-Tournament team in both horsemanship and reining, joining Putvinski on the latter squad.
A pair of season-long awards were also announced as the ECAC Equestrian Scholar-Athlete of the Year went to Newsom, a sophomore business major out of Lebanon, Ind. For the fourth time in the last five seasons, Kim Leiter-Janes was named ECAC Head Coach of the Year after guiding the Skyhawks to a perfect 6-0 record in the ECAC regular season standings.
Ranked No. 10 in the final National Collegiate Equestrian Association poll of the regular season, UT Martin will now have to wait until the NCEA Selection Committee unveils its eight-team tournament field on Tuesday, April 1 at 5 p.m. to learn of its postseason fate. The 2025 NCEA National Championship is set for April 17-19 in Ocala, Fla.
