WACO, Texas – The National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) saw four regular-season conference championships in week nine of spring competition.
Read below to see who clenched the ECAC Title!
SDSU defeats Minnesota Crookston to face UTM in ECAC semifinals
MARTIN, Tenn. — South Dakota State extended its equestrian season with an 11-9 victory over Minnesota Crookston in the opening round of the ECAC Championship on Thursday.
The Jackrabbits moved to 4-8 on the year with their third win over UMC this season.
SDSU showed out in the jumping seat disciplines, earning eight of the 10 points awarded.
Juliana Gullo scored the highest for both teams in the fences event, taking an 83-77.5 victory over Golden Eagle rider Kaylynn Berry. Gullo's ride of 83 earned her the Most Outstanding Rider for the event.
Hannah Steele took down Alexandra Wentland, 79-71.5, while Sarah Gould beat Belle Syrett, 64.5-55, and Samantha Aisenberg was victorious against Avery Crook 75-68.5. UM Crookston's sole point in fences was tallied by Kristen Borchert as she beat Brooke Borges, 72.5-67.
SDSU also took the flat discipline by a 4-1 count.
Steele earned the MOP for flat with a ride of 76, beating Berry's score of 55. Kendyl Rudolf earned a victory over Syrett, 72-65.5, with Kayla Scherer beating Borchert, 68.5-54, and Elizabeth Wagner talllying a point with a 66.5-57.5 win over Crook.
In horsemanship, the Golden Eagles took the event 3-2 with Ava Glenn receiving MOP honors for the event in her victory over Paige Wellendorf, 74.5-74.25.
Hailey Hanson took down Avery Bergan, 74-69.75, and to round out UM Crookston's points was Emma Mutnansky, who beat Anna Minich 72.75-71.25. Hannah Dutton and Grace Gerbus earned victories over their opponents for the Jackrabbits. Dutton tallied a 72.25-70.25 win over Madison Wojeck, while Gerbus beat Marley Halse, 71.5-64.25.
UM Crookston took reining with a dominant 4-1 performance. Ada Hirschfeld scored SDSU's only point of the discipline after she beat Hanson, 68.5-67.5, also being named the MOP in the event.
Wojeck beat Adisyn Kuxhaus, 65.75-61.75, and Halse was victorious over Lydia Loken, 67-66.75. The Golden Eagles' Madison Wachtel outrode Emma Riggs, 67.25-66.25, and Samantha Lyons earned a win over Lillie Wallis, 62-0.
UTM moves forward to ECAC title round
MARTIN, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian squad trailed 9-8 this afternoon against South Dakota State but stormed back to claim each of the last three points for a riveting 11-9 triumph in the Eastern College Athletic Conference semifinals.
With the win, the No. 1 seed Skyhawks advance to tomorrow's tournament finals at 10 a.m. against No. 2 seed UC Davis, who defeated No. 3 seed Delaware State by a 14-5 margin in today's other semifinal.
UT Martin (7-6) held a slim 8-7 advantage through three events but found itself trailing after the scrappy Jackrabbits won the first two points in reining. Logan Putvinski (70 points), Elise Mason(68.25) and Kate Davis (71) then finished the meet strong for the Skyhawks with three straight victories to send UT Martin to its fifth straight appearance in the ECAC Championship finals.
Davis' final win capped off a day where the senior from Williamston, Mich. garnered MOP accolades in both Western discipline events (horsemanship and reining). She became the fourth Skyhawk to nab two MOP's in the same meet this season, joining Elizabeth Becker (fences/flat on Oct. 18 against UC Davis), Lexi Bailey (horsemanship/reining on Oct. 18 against UC Davis) and Gabby Adams (fences/flat on Feb. 21 against Delaware State).
Kate Mills accounted for UT Martin's third MOP of the day, achieving those honors after an 84-point effort in fences.
Overall, the Skyhawks won three points in fences, flat and reining while adding two victories in horsemanship today.
In horsemanship, Davis' 73.75-point effort led the way for UT Martin as she extended her winning streak in that event to three as part of her first MOP in 2024-25. Mia McAfoos tacked on her team-best ninth victory of the season courtesy of a 74-point performance. Ava Newsom (69.50 points), Bailey (69) and Lillian Laney (67.75) also represented the Skyhawks in the event.
UT Martin evened up the score at 5-all after fences as Mills' first MOP (and seventh triumph) of her sophomore campaign guided the Skyhawks. Adams' 80 points and Bridget Vieau's 76 points were their third and second wins of the season, respectively. Emerson Maier (77 points) and Becker (75) were additional members of the scoring lineup.
Adams secured her team-best ninth flat win of the season with 72 points while Becker's 72 points were good enough for her sixth victory in 2024-25. Payton Lussen posted 69 points for her fourth win of the season while Vieau (74.5) and Rileigh Weiss (66.5) battled as part of the UT Martin lineup.
Putvinski's team-best 11
th victory in reining spurred the momentum for the Skyhawks. Mason followed with her 10
th win of the season, making the score 10-9 in favor of UT Martin before Davis slammed the door. Her first reining MOP of the season avoided a 10-all tie and punched the Skyhawks' ticket to tomorrow's finals.
UTM clenches ECAC Title in tiebreaker
MARTIN, Tenn. – Each of the last four seasons, the University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian season has ended in agonizing 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 10
th 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 10
th 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 10
th 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 12
th 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.
About the NCEA
A non-profit corporation, the NCEA is a governing body to advance the sport of equestrian. The NCEA is responsible for the development and administration of equestrian rules and guidelines. Equestrian is subject to all NCAA policies and procedures in the same manner as other sports. In 1998, Equestrian was identified and adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) as an emerging sport for women at the Division I and II levels.
NCEA competitions are in a head-to-head format, and schools may choose to compete as a single or dual discipline team (Jumping Seat and Western). Each discipline has two events: in Jumping Seat, Fences and Flat, and in Western, Horsemanship and Reining. Teams can have five riders per event, with horses assigned by random draw at the start of the competition. Riders from opposing teams compete on the same horse, and whichever rider receives the higher score earns one point for her team. The level of difficulty is demonstrated by the accuracy of the pattern and how the competitor uses the horse to the best of her ability.
To stay up to date all year long on all things NCEA Equestrian, follow the organization on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: @NCEA_Equestrian and @ncea_eq.
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