Kim Leiter-Janes - Equestrian Coach

Kim Leiter-Janes

Title:
Head Coach
Email:
kleiter1@utm.edu
Phone:
731-881-7261

Kim Leiter-Janes is in her sixth season as head coach for the University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian program in 2025-26. She was named the interim head coach on Nov. 19, 2020 after six seasons as an assistant on the Skyhawk staff and earned the permanent title of head coach following the 2020-21 campaign. She is the second head coach in program history.

Serving as head coach of a non-scholarship, self-funded program unlike any other at the NCEA level, Leiter-Janes has helped develop 16 of the program’s 19 All-Americans and has mentored a National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Rider of the Year, 39 all-conference performers, nine conference Riders of the Year and eight conference Freshmen of the Year during her UT Martin tenure.

Leiter-Janes has been named the ECAC Coach of the Year in four of the last five seasons (2024-25, 2023-24, 2022-23, 2020-21) and helped lead the Skyhawks to their second conference championship in program history (first in 12 years) - bringing home the 2024-25 ECAC crown. That victory earned the Skyhawks an at-large berth into the NCEA Championship, marking the first time in school history that UT Martin had made the tournament since the field was trimmed down to eight squads. She also continued a remarkable streak as the Skyhawks have been ranked in 42 consecutive national polls dating back to March 7, 2023 until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

Last season, UT Martin equaled the program’s win mark (eight), including an unblemished 6-0 regular season record in the ECAC standings and two more triumphs in the ECAC Championship tournament. The Skyhawks boasted a program record four Ariat NCEA All-Americans (Gabby Adams, Elise Mason, Logan Putvinski, Mia McAfoos) as their three first-team honorees only trailed SMU and Auburn (four apiece) for the most in the nation. A total of 11 different UT Martin riders combined for 15 ECAC postseason awards, including major winners Adams (Flat Rider of the Year), McAfoos (Horsemanship Rider of the Year), Mason (Reining Rider of the Year) and Payton Lussen (Flat Freshman of the Year). In addition, four student-athletes brought home seven ECAC Championship awards, including Horsemanship MOP Ava Newsom and Fences MOP Kate Mills.

All in all, a dozen separate Skyhawks combined for 21 ECAC Rider of the Week honors and six separate ECAC Rider of the Month accolades. UT Martin also boasted a NCEA Rider of the Month, a NCEA Standout Student-Athlete and a trio of ECAC Standout Student-Athletes while 22 Skyhawks combined for 37 spots on the NCEA APHA All-Academic list in 2024-25.

In 2023-24, the Skyhawks ranked as high as No. 8 for five straight weeks to cap off the regular season. UT Martin won its fourth straight ECAC reserve championship, posting a 6-8 overall mark against a loaded schedule that featured 10 nationally ranked squads. The Skyhawks went 4-1 in ECAC play, topping the league standings and securing the No. 1 seed in the league’s championship tournament for the second consecutive year.

UT Martin boasted NCEA All-American and ECAC Reining Rider of the Year Emma Schaefer, NCEA first team reining All-American Lexi Bailey, ECAC Fences Freshman of the Year Mills and ECAC Championship Fences MOP Sydney Hott. The Skyhawks collected six All-ECAC recipients and a trio of ECAC All-Tournament selections after 12 separate UT Martin riders combined for a whopping 27 ECAC Rider of the Week or Rider of the Month mentions in 2023-24.

In 2022-23, Leiter-Janes helped guide the Skyhawks to their third straight ECAC reserve championship after earning the No. 1 seed in the ECAC Championship tournament. UT Martin was a perfect 3-0 against ECAC competition during the regular season.

Putvinski (reining second team) and Julia Gilman (fences honorable mention) each tallied All-American accolades under Leiter-Janes in 2022-23. Four different riders combined for five All-ECAC honors while four separate Skyhawks garnered a total of 10 ECAC Rider of the Week and three ECAC Rider of the Month awards. For the second straight season, Leiter-Janes also worked alongside the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year as Caitlin Marshall brought home that honor in her first season on staff.

In 2021-22, the Skyhawks set a school record with eight victories and were ranked in the NCEA top-10 poll in nine out of the 10 weeks. Included in that win total was an impressive 9-6 neutral-site victory over defending national runner-up SMU on Oct. 2, which was the program’s first-ever win over a top-three program. UT Martin went 7-2 in ECAC competition, making its second straight ECAC championship finals appearance before capturing the reserve title. Nine different Skyhawks combined to win 14 ECAC Rider of the Week accolades.

Leiter-Janes coached Kelby Kane, who was named NCEA National Fences Rider of the Year, a NCEA Ariat first-team All-American and the ECAC Fences Rider of the Year in 2021-22. Overall, UT Martin boasted All-American honorable mention Gilman, ECAC Reining Freshman of the Year Kate Davis and a pair of other All-ECAC riders. The Skyhawks also accounted for ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year in Carter Anderson, who is now on the Oklahoma State staff.

In 2020-21, Leiter-Janes won her first ECAC Coach of the Year honor – becoming the first recipient of that award in school history. Against an abbreviated spring schedule that featured a trio of nationally ranked opponents, the Skyhawks posted a 3-5 record with two of those setbacks coming via raw points tiebreakers. UT Martin advanced to the ECAC championship competition for the first time ever and won the league’s reserve championship after battling against eventual national runner-up SMU in the finals.

Leiter-Janes oversaw a pair of NCEA Ariat All-Americans in 2020-21 in Hannah McDonald and Noel Meadows. McDonald, who also won ECAC Reining Rider of the Year accolades, became only the second Skyhawk to earn first team All-American status while Meadows became first rider in UT Martin history to be crowned as a three-time All-American. The Skyhawks produced another All-ECAC horsemanship performer while five different UT Martin representatives racked up ECAC Rider of the Week or Rider of the Month accolades.

Leiter-Janes has over 30 years of proven success in the equestrian field. She is a AQHA credentialed judge with experience in nationally recognized AQHA, NSBA, NCEA and IHSA competitions. In her business, she coached riders, mentored staff and trained horses in the Midwest and Southern California - winning World and Congress Championships with her clientele.

During her riding career, Leiter-Janes was the 1990 ISHA national champion in hunt seat equitation and was a finalist in horsemanship. She has coached clients to multiple top-10 finishes in the AQHA World Show and Open World Shows as World Championships.

Leiter-Janes also has served as head trainer and farm manager of Sierra Vista Ranch in Somis, Calif. (2009-11), owner and operator of Huver Quarter Horses in Cannon Falls, Minn. (1994-2009) and an assistant trainer at Huss Performance in Findlay, Ohio (1989-2004).

Leiter-Janes received her bachelor’s degree in equestrian studies and elementary education from the University of Findlay in 1993 while earning her Master’s degree in adult education and training from the University of Phoenix, Arizona. She married Donn Janes from Denver, Colo. in the summer of 2023.