Four women’s teams — basketball, rodeo, softball and equestrian— enjoyed success this past year at UT Martin by winning their respective regional title or the Ohio Valley Conference regular season or by defying great adversity to overachieve.
Women’s Basketball Overachieves
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The women’s basketball team, under the direction of first-year head coach Kevin McMillan, posted an 11-19 overall record (8-10 OVC) and advanced to the Ohio Valley Conference postseason tournament as the No. 4 seed where it lost in the semifinals to No. 1 Eastern Illinois, 65-51.
“I couldn’t be more proud of the team though. We overachieved in many ways but also showed what is possible when everyone buys into a program and plays for each other,” McMillan said.
The women’s roster included eight players at the end of the season. Three players suffered season-ending injuries before the Christmas break.
Junior Alecia Weatherly and freshman LaBrica Ward both earned spots on the OVC All-Newcomer Team, while McMillan was named the conference’s coach of the year. |
Weatherly became one of the top stories in the entire conference this past season when she returned to the game of basketball as a junior at the Division I level, having not played since her senior year of high school in 2006. She went on to have a very productive season, scoring more than 12 points and pulling down nearly six rebounds a game. She also emerged as the team’s leader and hit the game-winning three-pointer against Tennessee Tech that snapped the Skyhawks’ OVC record 29-game losing streak.
Women’s Rodeo Wins First Regional Title Since 2004
The UT Martin rodeo team piled up 3,106 points after 10 regional rodeos to win the Ozark Region for the first time since 2004.
The UT Martin women finished first in four of the 10 regional rodeos, taking the team title at West Alabama, Northwest Mississippi, UT Martin and Arkansas-Monticello. The women were second at Missouri Valley College, Southern Arkansas (fall) and Southern Arkansas (spring).
By virtue of winning the Ozark Region, the UT Martin women advanced to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in June at Casper, Wyo. UT Martin’s women recorded their best-ever finish at the CNFR in 1993 when they were tied for eighth.
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Softball Team Wins OVC Title, Sets New School Record For Wins
| The UT Martin softball team posted a 47-11 overall record, the winningest season in school history. En route to the impressive final record, the Skyhawks claimed the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title and earned the right |
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to host the OVC tournament where an automatic NCAA berth was awarded to the winner. The Skyhawks suffered a 10-1 loss to Jacksonville State in the tournament championship game.
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Megan Williams and Paij Lintz earned the OVC’s Player and Pitcher of the Year awards, respectively. They were joined by head coach Donley Canary, who was named the conference coach of the year. The regular-season champion Skyhawks are only the sixth team in league history to sweep player, pitcher and coach of the year honors from the OVC.
Williams and Lintz were both also selected to the All-OVC First Team and were joined by Laurie Lindow, Jenny Bain, Laura Roberts and Kate Vanderham. In all, UT Martin had six first-team members, making up half of the 12-member team. Megan Van Arsdale earned a spot on the All-OVC Second Team, while Vanderham, Kalah Mathis and Jordan Garrett were all named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad.
Equestrian Team Rides in Fourth Consecutive VENC
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Freshman Kara Bergenty scored two points in the first round of the 2010 Varsity National Equestrian Championships (VNEC) and UT Martin, seeded 7th, turned in a higher raw score than 10th seed Kansas State. However, it was not enough for the Skyhawks to claim a win in the first round of the Hunter Seat Championship at Heart O’ Texas Fair Complex in Waco, Texas, as Kansas State defeated UT Martin, 5-3.
UT Martin battled Kansas State to a 2-2 draw in Equitation over Fences. Bergenty, from Farmington, Conn., and freshman Katie Miranda, from Summerfield, Fla., scored for the Skyhawks. Kansas State won the Equitation on the Flats 3-1.
This is the fourth consecutive year UT Martin has advanced to the VENC. |
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