Momentous UT Martin Season Comes To An End In NCEA Championship Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 17

Ocala, Fla.

7:30 a.m. CT

UT Martin

SMU

Momentous UT Martin Season Comes To An End In NCEA Championship Quarterfinals

4/17/2025 8:18:00 PM | Equestrian

Results Photo Gallery

OCALA, Fla. – The University of Tennessee at Martin battled today in the National Collegiate Equestrian Association quarterfinals but fell to two-time defending national champions and No. 1 seed SMU at the prestigious World Equestrian Center.

The Skyhawks earned both of their points today in reining as Elise Mason (69.5 aboard Barbie) and Kate Davis (69.5 on Joe) each emerged victorious. It marked the 11^th win of the season for Mason and was the 10^th victory – and eighth in as many meets – of the 2024-25 campaign for Davis, capping off her spectacular career with 27 wins in that event.

Gallery: (4-17-2025) Equestrian vs. SMU (NCEA Championship)

UT Martin's reining lineup consisted of Lexi Bailey (70.3), Aubrey Malone (69.2) and Logan Putvinski (66.2) today. In horsemanship, the trio of Lillian Laney (team-best 72.7 points), Mia McAfoos (70.5) and Ava Newsom (70) all narrowly fell by two points or less while Bailey also represented the Skyhawks in that event.

On the Jumping Seat front, Elizabeth Becker posted a team-best 78.3 points in fences and was followed closely behind by Gabby Adams (78). Emerson Maier and Bridget Vieau each accounted for identical 77-point performances while Kate Mills completed the UT Martin lineup in that event.

Adams guided the Skyhawks in flat with 75.3 points and was followed by Becker (66.3), Vieau (66), Payton Lussen (64.3) and Rileigh Weiss (62).

"We rode hard today," UT Martin head coach Kim Leiter-Janes said. "We made some mistakes but I'm just really proud of the girls and their efforts. They went for it – we talk about this all the time but who we are is more important than the end result. This team worked so hard this year and had so much passion – just getting here is huge for our program and we have lots of good pieces to take away from this experience."

Today's result closes out a historic 2024-25 season for the Skyhawks. UT Martin registered its first-ever Eastern College Athletic Conference championship and was rewarded with an at-large berth into the NCEA Championship for the first time since the tournament format was changed to eight teams. Leiter-Janes won her fourth ECAC Coach of the Year award in the past five seasons, overseeing four All-Americans and 11 different riders who combined for 15 All-ECAC postseason honorees.