By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
AUBURN, Ala. – Sophomore Logan Putvinski ran her reining winning streak to three and earned her third career MOP today but the No. 9 ranked University of Tennessee at Martin equestrian squad fell by a 16-4 margin at No. 6 Auburn.
Hailing from Knoxville, Tenn., Putvinski collected 70 points for her reining performance as she extended her season record to 3-0. It marked the second straight meet that the Skyhawks brought home an MOP effort in reining after Aubrey Malone won those honors at Delaware State on Oct. 14.
Overall, UT Martin tallied two points in reining, one point in horsemanship and one point in flat today. A total of four Skyhawks came away with career-high scores as UT Martin’s season record moved to 2-2 overall.
Joining Putvinski in the win column in reining was Marci Leath as the freshman out of Columbia, SC notched her first career collegiate victory with 65.5 points. Malone piled up 67 points but fell by 0.5 points in her head-to-head matchup while Lexi Bailey (62.5 points) and Kate Davis (62 points) also represented the Skyhawks.
Davis nabbed her team-best second victory in horsemanship with a 73.5-point performance. Both Bailey and Paige Benson managed career-high scores of 77 points but were narrowly defeated by their head-to-head competitor. Keely Seiter accrued a season-best 75.5 points while Emma Schaefer received a score of 71 points but fell by the slimmest of margins.
In flat, Sophia Sundem’s 77-point effort was good enough for her second win of the 2022-23 campaign. Julia Gilman was responsible for a team-high 84 points while Rileigh Weiss (76 points), Haley Kane (73) and Sydney Hott (68) completed the lineup for UT Martin.
The Skyhawks ran into even more tough luck in fences. Elizabeth Becker dialed up a team-high 85 points but was bested by one point in her head-to-head matchup. Emmy Reed set a career-high with 81 points while Gilman matched that score but fell by a single point. Hott and Kane rounded out UT Martin’s participation in the event with scores of 80 and 76 points, respectively.
Each of the Skyhawks’ final three meets of the fall semester will take place at home, beginning with a pair of matchups next weekend. UT Martin will take on current No. 7 South Carolina on Friday, Oct. 28 before an outing against Lynchburg on Saturday, Oct. 29. Both meets will begin at 10 a.m. at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Pavilion.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information