DANBURY, Conn. – For the second time in three weeks, the University of Tennessee at Martin accounted for all four Eastern College Athletic Conference Rider of the Week honorees as Sydney Hott (fences), Sophia Sundem (flat), Ava Newsom (horsemanship) and Emma Schaefer (reining) claimed those awards.
Hott now has two ECAC Rider of the Week honors (one in flat, one in fences) in 2023-24 while this marks the first weekly conference accolade this season for the Skyhawk trio of Sundem, Newsom and Schaefer.
A Defiance, Mo. native, Hott claimed UT Martin’s first fences MOP of the young 2023-24 campaign last Thursday in the 15-5 home triumph over South Dakota State. The senior’s 84-point effort won by a whopping 46 points and was good enough for MOP status while she also compiled a career-best score of 88 on the way to a two-point fences victory the next day against No. 2 Auburn.
Sundem also went 2-0 last week, posting her first flat triumph with 82 points in the ECAC showdown against South Dakota State to win by 10 points. The following day, the senior out of Carlsbad, Calif. earned a career-best 88 points against No. 2 Auburn, achieving MOP accolades after a three-point triumph over her competitor.
A freshman from Lebanon, Ind., Newsom accumulated many firsts during Thursday’s victory against South Dakota State. She went off for UT Martin’s first-ever horsemanship MOP of the season with a career-best 73-point effort – winning her first collegiate head-to-head decision by three points. She followed that with 69.5 points against No. 2 Auburn the next day.
Schaefer boasted a perfect 2-0 record with one MOP in reining, starting with a 69.5-point MOP ride on Thursday against South Dakota State for a seven-point victory, her first in that event in 2023-24. The senior out of New Virginia, Iowa continued her spectacular weekend the next day with a head-to-head one-point triumph against her competitor from No. 2 Auburn, securing 69 points.
Ranked No. 10 in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association poll, the Skyhawks are idle from official competition this week before hosting No. 1 TCU (Friday, Oct. 27) and No. 6 Georgia (Saturday, Oct. 28) next weekend.
