UW Rodeo Teams Sweep Opening Event in Nebraska

Oct. 3, 2005 -- It was no surprise that the University of Wyoming men’s team won the season’s first fall rodeo, but the UW Cowgirls may be better than predicted.

With a new collegiate rodeo scoring system in place this season, the UW Cowboys scored a dominating 660 points at the Chadron (Neb.) State College rodeo last weekend, nearly200 points more than runner-up Eastern Wyoming College (EWC).

With more points being awarded, UW Coach George Howard says his men’s team should score high in all rodeos this season, and it is possible that his talent-laden club could hit four digits. Points now will be awarded to the top six in each individual event, compared to four places in previous seasons. Sixty points will be given to first place and 10 points less in descending order to the next five place winners.

“What do you say about our men’s team&?rdquo; a pleased Howard said Monday morning. “We were a little better than average at Chadron and as the season goes, we could get to 1,000 points at one rodeo. It’s a possibility, but our goal is still to win the national title.”

As pleased as Howard was with his men’s team, he couldn’t have been happier with the performance of his women’s club. Last year the Cowgirls failed to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo for the first time that Howard could remember.

With a mix of newcomers and veterans, the Cowgirls edged out Northeastern Junior College by a 290-285 point margin.
“I have no complaints at all about how the women did. There are some good women in the region this season, which will make it a little tougher. But what will help us is that we have some nice balance and depth on our team,” Howard says.

Two more rodeos are scheduled this fall and five more in the spring -- a long way to go in the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR), but the opening rodeo proved how much depth both UW teams will have this season. Long-time nemesis Central Wyoming College (CWC) was in the middle of the pack in the men’s and women’s standings at the Chadron rodeo. The UW men are the defending CRMR champions, while the Lady Rustlers won a year ago. The CWC men finished behind the Cowboys, while the Cowgirls finished third.

Last week the Cowboys scored points across the board in five of the six events. Only six men and four women are selected to score points that count in the team standings, but others can compete unattached.

Veteran Billie Sutton, a finance senior from Burke, S.D., opened the defense of his saddle bronc riding title when he scored 150 points to win the short go and the average. He also earned the all-around title with additional points by placing fourth in the calf roping average.

The Cowboys scored heavily in two events with a pair of UW teammates placing in steer wrestling and team roping. Henry Hollenbeck, an agricultural business senior from Fort Morgan, Colo., tied for the fastest short go time and won the steer wrestling average, and teammate Clayton Morrison, a civil engineering senior from Killdeer, S.D., added to the team’s overall production by scoring in the long go.

Morrison, who was the runner-up all-around cowboy to Sutton, returned later with his younger brother Mark, a civil engineering sophomore, to place second in team roping. Justin Viles, a finance junior from Cody, placed sixth in the same event with his veteran partner, Cole Cooper of Mesa State College.

The final team points came from Zack Curran, a range management junior from Arvada, Colo., in bareback riding. He was the regional runner-up last season as a CWC competitor.

UW Cowboy Jason Hubbard, an agricultural freshman from Wheatland, competing unattached, won the calf roping title in his first collegiate competition.

A trio of UW women paced the Cowgirls’ successful first rodeo. Susan Burford, an agricultural communications junior from Bayard, Neb., was the barrel racing runner-up, while a pair of Cowgirls picked up additional team points in goat tying. Highly-touted freshman Nikki Steffes, a pre-med major from Vale, S.D., placed third in the event and fifth place went to Michele Malone, an audiology sophomore from Keenesburg, Colo.

Competing unattached, Kari Mueller, a kinesiology and health promotion/athletic training junior from Belgrade, Mont., won the breakaway roping event.

The Cowgirls edged NJC for the women’s title despite the efforts of TaNaye Carroll, who scored all her team’s points, earning her all-around cowgirl honors.

Lamar (Colo.) Community College hosts this weekend’s rodeo and the final fall event is the following week at Cheyenne’s Laramie County Community College.

Women’s team scores -- University of Wyoming (UW) 290; Northeastern Junior College (NJC) 285; Colorado State University (CSU) 270; Central Wyoming College (CWC) 180; Casper College (CC) 170; Eastern Wyoming College 140; Lamar Community College (LCC) 110; Laramie County Community College (LCCC) 90; Chadron State College (CSC) 20.

Men’s team scores -- UW 660; EWC 465; SC 365; CC 280; CSC 255; CWC 250; NJC 140; LCCC 130; CSU-Pueblo 90; Mesa State College (MSC) 80.

Barrel racing -- Jessica Watkins, CSU, 35.19; Susan Burford, UW, 35.67; Cassie Egbert, CSU, 35.90; Erin Gorsuch, EWC, 36.16; Chelsie Schaefer, EWC, 36.25; Courtney White, NJC, 36.38.

Breakaway roping -- Kari Mueller, UW, 6.3; TaNaye Carroll, NJC, 6.9; Carla Weiser, CC, 7.4; Robyn Shorb, CWC, 15.9; Stephanie Graves, LCCC, 16.5; Karleen Johnson, LCC, 2.6 (on one).

Goat tying -- TaNaye Carroll, NJC and Trisha Freese, CWC, 15.5; Nikki Steffes, UW, 17.4; Lindylu Evridge, UW, 17.6; Michele Malone, UW, 17.8; Lexy Burghduff, CC, 18.2.

Saddle bronc riding -- Billie Sutton, UW, 150; Derek Kenner, EWC, 146; Tucker Sheets, CC, 131; Clayton Selby SC, 120; Jace Garrett, CWC, 77; Wace Snook, CC, 75.

Bareback riding -- Karlon Knudson, CC, 142; Andy Hollibaugh, CSC and James Baldwin, SC, 130; Thomas Baker, SC, 129; Josh Keller, SC, 127; Andy Samulson, CWC, 96.

Bull riding -- Kyle Lozier, EWC, 81; Travis Marshall, LCCC, 76; Willie Grimm, EWC and Eric Goff, LCC, 72; Douglas Owens, UW, 62; Jordon Hupp, LCCC, 60. (All on one qualified ride).

Calf roping -- Jason Hubbard, UW, 24.4; Jayce Johnson, EWC, 26.4; Billie Sutton, UW, 27.6; Reo Lohse, UW, 28.5; Colt Floyd, CWC, 29.6; Wiley Cross, EWC, 33.5.

Steer wrestling -- Henry Hollenbeck, UW, 12.3; Colter Floy, UW, 12.4; Mike Wiedman, EWC, 12.6; Clint Doll, CWC, 13.8; Theo Federer, LCCC, 17.1; Wiley Cross, EWC, 17.3.

Team roping -- Chase Francis, CSC/T.J. Watts, NJC, 16.2; Lamont Clabaugh, SC/Ben Person, SC, 17.6; Clayton Morrison, UW/Mark Morrison, UW, 20; Heath Reinhert, LCC/Ryan Simmons, LCC, 23.3; Riley Pedro, Front Range Community College/Alex Shuman, CSU, 23.5; Justin Viles, UW/Cole Cooper, MSC, 24.7.

Posted on Monday, October 03, 2005