MTSU Mondays: Stock horse national champs; student receives Goldwater Scholarship

Nancy DeGennaro, Murfreesboro Daily News Journal
·2 min read

Here's the latest news from Middle Tennessee State University.

Stock horse champs

Members of the MTSU stock horse team earned the Hughes Ranch Traders National Intercollegiate Ranch and Stock Horse National Championship Reserve Champion national title recently in Amarillo, Texas. Jordan Martin, left, Louann Braunwalder, Jordan Dillenbeck, JoBeth Scarlett, Rachel Petree and Taylor Meek are shown with various individual and team awards they received.

Competing late in the semester at the American Stock Horse Association Collegiate and National Show in Sweetwater, Texas — and for the first time in Division 1 — MTSU's stock horse team defeated Texas Tech University to earn the national title.

In a 10-team field of teams from around the country, MTSU riders earned the Division 2 Reserve Champion national title at the Hughes Ranch Traders National Intercollegiate Ranch and Stock Horse National Championship in Amarillo, Texas. MTSU also received a $1,000 marketing package for its ranch horse program.

Eight MTSU students competed in the AHSA event held in the Nolan County Coliseum in Sweetwater, Texas, capturing eight individual national awards and the coveted national title. Events included cow horse, pleasure, reining and trail.

A year ago, the Raiders finished fourth overall in Division 2, but earned 10 combined championship and runner-up awards.

The Hughes Ranch Trailers-sponsored event featured 115 riders from 14 colleges and universities from seven states. MTSU carried six riders to this event, each competing for individual awards plus national champion and Reserve Champion team honors.

Notable individual all-round awards included:

• Taylor Meek, a recent graduate and horse science major from Murfreesboro, winning eighth overall in the Limited Non-Pro All-Around Division.

• JoBeth Scarlett, a junior animal science major from New Market, Tennessee, placed ninth overall in the Limited Non-Pro All-Around Division.

Other team members include Rachel Petree, Louann Braunwalder, Kara Brown and Savannah Glinstra.

Barry Goldwater scholarship

MTSU student Yaseen Ginnab of Nashville has received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and is in Nova Scotia for three months as part of a Fulbright Canada program.
MTSU student Yaseen Ginnab of Nashville has received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and is in Nova Scotia for three months as part of a Fulbright Canada program.

Yaseen Ginnab of Nashville, a rising senior at MTSU, received a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship to pursue research and this summer he is spending three months in Nova Scotia, assisting with a Fulbright Canada project.

This follows a National Science Foundation REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) at Central Michigan University last summer and working in the joint lab of Bailey and biology professor Ryan Otter last fall, assisting MTSU graduate students in two labs.

The Fulbright-MITACS Globalink is intended for U.S. students interested in going to Canada to undertake advanced research projects in their area of interest. Ginnab applied and interviewed for seven internships. He was matched with is professor and biologist Gavin Kernaghan of Mount Saint Vincent University, documenting a fungus in the forest — plus a lab component, Ginnab said.

The Goldwater award provides funding for up to $7,500 per year to cover the cost of tuition after other scholarships.

After eventually graduating from MTSU, Ginnab wants to pursue a master’s degree and doctorate.

Reach reporter Nancy DeGennaro at degennaro@dnj.com. Keep up with restaurant news by joining Good Eats in the 'Boro (and beyond) on Facebook and follow Murfreesboro Eats on TikTok.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU Mondays: Stock horse champs; student gets Goldwater Scholarship