UT MARTIN EQUESTRIAN PREPARES FOR NCEA EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK IN LONE STAR STATE

2019 NCEA Championship Central

MARTIN, Tenn. – For the eighth time in program history, the University of Tennessee at Martin will compete for a national championship as the Skyhawks will take part in the 2019 National Collegiate Equestrian Association Championships, held this week in Waco, Texas.

This year's event takes place on Wednesday, April 17 through Saturday, April 20 and is once again held at the Extraco Events Center. For the second consecutive year, the NCEA will award a team champion as well as event champions in equitation over fences, equitation on the flat, horsemanship and reining.

UT Martin is represented in all four event championship brackets and will open play on Wednesday. The Skyhawks are seeded 7^th in reining and will take on No. 10 Delaware State at 8:30 a.m. while UT Martin's No. 14 ranked equitation over fences squad will also battle at 8:30 a.m. against No. 3 SMU. The Skyhawks are ranked No. 8 in equitation on the flat and square off against No. 9 TCU at 1:30 p.m. while UT Martin's No. 9 ranked horsemanship team will take on No. 8 Georgia at 2 p.m.

On Sept. 29, the Skyhawks defeated Delaware State by a 3-1 margin in reining. All-United Equestrian Conference honoree Hannah McDonald captured MOP honors with a 68-point effort while NCEA first team All-American and UEC Reining Rider of the Year Noel Meadows (65.5) and Maddie Mykolaitis (66) also tallied head-to-head wins. McDonald carries a team-high 67.8 scoring average on the season while Meadows (team-best seven wins, co-team-high two MOP's) and Tess Baumann (co-team-best two MOP's) also have paced UT Martin in the event.

During the Skyhawks' UEC Championship semifinals matchup against SMU on March 22, Monika Zoromski emerged victorious in equitation over fences with a total score of 153 (75-78). Kelby Kane guides UT Martin with a 75.8 scoring average and six victories this season while Zoromski accounts for a team-high two MOP's in the event for the Skyhawks.

UT Martin will be seeing the Horned Frogs in equitation on the flat for the first time in 2018-19. The Skyhawks lay claim to a pair of All-UEC equitation on the flat honorees in Kane (UEC Freshman of the Year) and Abbie Hopkins. Kane ranks first on the squad in scoring average (76.8), victories (seven) and MOP's (two) in the event.

In horsemanship, UT Martin held a 3-2 advantage over Georgia during its home victory back on Jan. 24. Baumann compiled MOP status with a score of 76.5 while Bailey Newlin (72) and McAuley Ross (71) additionally generated wins. Baumann is the team leader with a 72.5 scoring average and a pair of MOP honors while Lucy Eier has earned a team-best five head-to-head wins.

For further information on the 2019 NCEA Championships, visit the Tournament Central link at the top of the webpage.

UT MARTIN EQUESTRIAN PREPARES FOR NCEA EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK IN LONE STAR STATE

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Players Mentioned

Tess Baumann

Lucy Eier

Abbie Hopkins

Kelby Kane

Hannah McDonald

Noel Meadows

Maddie Mykolaitis

Bailey Newlin

McAuley Ross

Monika Zoromski