RANCHO MURIETA, Calif. – The University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian team will play for the Eastern College Athletic Conference title after an 11-9 triumph over South Dakota State in the ECAC Championship semifinals on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Skyhawks won four points apiece in fences and horsemanship while adding two victories in reining and one more head-to-head triumph in flat. Emma Schaefer continued her fantastic senior campaign with UT Martin’s lone MOP of the day – earning that title in horsemanship.
The Skyhawks trailed 3-2 early after the reining event opened the meet. Schaefer picked up her team-high ninth win of the season with a 71-point effort while Logan Putvinski tallied her eighth victory of the 2024 campaign after a 70-point performance. Kate Davis managed a season-high 71.5 points but fell by 0.25 points to the MOP winner while Lexi Bailey’s 68.75 points were just 0.25 points shy of her competitor. Aubrey Malone (66.75 points) also represented UT Martin in the event.
Fences was next on the schedule as the Skyhawks took a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Sydney Hott turned in her team-best eighth win of the season with a score of 80 points while Haley Kane’s team-high 81 points led to her sixth victory of 2023-24. Kate Mills registered win No. 7 of her freshman campaign with 73 points while Elizabeth Becker’s 78 points were good enough for her fifth triumph of the season. Gabby Adams (66.5 points) also took part in the UT Martin lineup as the Skyhawks took a 6-4 lead through two events.
UT Martin expanded its lead out to 10-5 after a successful performance in horsemanship. Schaefer’s 76.25 points were a season-high as she notched her sixth victory and team-best second MOP in 2023-24. Bailey recorded her team-high eighth win with a score of 72.75 points while Mia McAfoos (seventh victory of the season) and Kate Davis (fifth triumph of the 2023-24 campaign) each managed 74.25 points apiece. Ava Newsom was the Skyhawks’ fifth member of the scoring lineup as she came away with 67 points.
Needing only one win in flat to officially seal the victory, Sophia Sundem accounted for her team-best eighth victory of the season with 71.5 points. She was joined in the UT Martin lineup by Hott (team-high 75.5 points), Kane (58), Bridget Vieau (57.5) and Becker (51).
The Skyhawks will take on ECAC Championship tournament host UC Davis on Wednesday for the right to be called league champions. The meet is set to begin at 10 a.m. CT as flat (10:05 a.m.) leads things off and will be followed by horsemanship (11:15 a.m.), fences (12:40 p.m.) and reining (1:15 p.m.).
