Kim Leiter

Kim Leiter is in her fourth season as head coach for the UT Martin equestrian program in 2023-24. 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.

A Janesville, Wis. native, Leiter has helped develop 10 of the program’s 14 All-Americans and has mentored a National Collegiate Equestrian Association National Rider of the Year, 24 all-conference performers, five conference Riders of the Year and five conference Freshmen of the Year during her UT Martin tenure.

Last season, Leiter was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in a three-year span. She helped guide the Skyhawks to their third straight ECAC reserve championship after earning the No. 1 seed in the ECAC Championship tournament. UT Martin made 14 appearances in the NCEA top-10 poll (out of 17 total weeks) and was a perfect 3-0 against ECAC competition during the regular season.

Logan Putvinski (reining second team) and Julia Gilman (fences honorable mention) each tallied All-American accolades under Leiter in 2022-23. Four different riders (Sydney Hott, Gilman, Putvinski, Lexi Bailey) 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 also worked alongside the ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year as Caitlin Marshall brought home that honor in her first season on staff.

Away from competition, UT Martin accounted for 20 NCEA APHA All-Academic recipients and also boasted the inaugural Ohio Valley Conference Community Service Award winner in Anna Ordonio.

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. A grand total of nine different Skyhawks combined to win 14 ECAC Rider of the Week accolades.

Leiter 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 (Haley Kane and Emma Schaefer). The Skyhawks also accounted for ECAC Assistant Coach of the Year in Carter Anderson.

Academically, UT Martin posted a 3.48 cumulative Grade Point Average in 2021-22. A total of 16 student-athletes earned APHA NCEA All-Academic Team honors.

In 2020-21, Leiter was voted as ECAC Coach of the Year – 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 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 All-ECAC horsemanship performer Bailey Newlin while five different UT Martin representatives racked up ECAC Rider of the Week or Rider of the Month accolades in 2020-21. Outside of the arena, the Skyhawks boasted 26 NCEA All-Academic honorees and combined for a 3.45 Grade Point Average during the 2020-21 season.

The Skyhawks were ranked in the top-10 of the NCEA polls for 12 combined weeks in 2019-20. In its first season as a member of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, four different UT Martin honorees joined forces to nab 10 ECAC Rider of the Week awards as well as a pair of Rider of the Month accolades. In addition, McDonald became just the fourth Skyhawk to ever be named NCEA Rider of the Month when she captured that accolade for February in reining. On the academic side, UT Martin combined for 13 spots on the Farnam NCEA All-Academic Team.

Abbie Hopkins was named an NCEA Ariat second team All-American in flat as well as Eastern College Athletic Conference Flat Rider of the Year in 2019-20. She became just the second Skyhawk representative (first since 2013) to collect All-American status in two different events in a career.

In 2018-19, UT Martin boasted first team All-American Noel Meadows, who became the first Skyhawk to ever nab All-American first team status and just the second UT Martin rider to claim All-American status more than once. Meadows chalked up United Equestrian Conference Reining Rider of the Year honors and joined All-UEC honorees Hopkins, Kane and McDonald as the Skyhawks spent seven weeks in the national top-10 standings. Kane chalked up UEC Freshman of the Year honors in equitation on the flat as UT Martin produced a victory in that same event at the 2019 NCEA Event Championships. In addition, the Skyhawks boasted 15 NCEA All-Academic/APHA Academic Honor Roll recipients.

Leiter helped guide the Skyhawks to arguably their best season in school history in 2017-18. UT Martin was ranked in the top-10 national polls in 16 consecutive weeks from Oct. 10 through March 27 while also earning a spot in each of the four discipline championships at the 2018 NCEA Championships. That included a first-round win in equitation over fences, which sent the Skyhawks to the national quarterfinals.

Leiter tutored NCEA All-Americans in Hopkins (second team equitation over fences), Meadows (honorable mention reining) and Madeline Williams (honorable mention reining) and four All-United Equestrian Conference recipients last season. That included a trio of All-UEC Freshmen of the Year (Woods in horsemanship, Meadows in reining, Hopkins in equitation over fences). UT Martin also accounted for nine APHA NCEA Academic Honor Roll recipients in 2017-18.

In 2016-17, Leiter helped oversee a Skyhawk program that boasted two All-United Equestrian Conference honorees (Randi LaChance, Brittany Woodard), an NCEA honorable mention All-American (LaChance) and three NCEA Academic Honor Roll student-athletes (Woodard, Sammi Felts, Sydney Lintner).

Leiter was an integral part of a Skyhawk program that was ranked in the national top-10 polls for four consecutive weeks in 2015-16. UT Martin also produced nine NCEA Academic All-American and Academic Honor Roll recipients.

In her first season with the Skyhawks, Leiter helped guide UT Martin to the NCEA Tournament for the ninth consecutive year. She also worked closely with NCEA All-Americans Mia Bray (second team equitation on the flat, United Equestrian Conference Equitation on the Flat Rider of the Year) and Hunter Ralston (honorable mention equitation on the flat).

Leiter 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 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 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 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.