October 6, 2015
The Mesalands Community College Rodeo Team recently competed in their second rodeo of the season at Cochise College in Douglas, AZ. The Mesalands Rodeo Team struggled at this rodeo and are now more motivated to compete well this weekend at the 8th Annual Mesalands Intercollegiate Fall Rodeo.
Tim Abbott, Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach at Mesalands says their performance at the Cochise College rodeo competition was subpar to their standards. He says the Mesalands Rodeo Team is eager and excited about competing at home this weekend and taking full advantage of that opportunity.
“Our performance at the Cochise College rodeo was unacceptable. We are taking the right steps to make sure this type of performance does not happen again,” Coach Abbott said. “We plan to turn that around and use the Cochise College rodeo as motivation going forward at our rodeo competition.”
Coach Abbott said that he does not want to minimize the individual accomplishments of the student athletes at the Cochise College rodeo.
Clay Stremler of Winnemucca, NV performed well in the saddle bronc riding event. Stremler was third in the long round and finished second in the average, winning the reserve championship title.
In steer wrestling, Tyler Stegall of Morristown, AZ was fifth in the long round and drew a bad steer in the short round that kept him from placing in the average. Stegall continues to gain points in this event and is still one of the top competitors in the regional standings.
In tie down roping, Kyle Jurney of Eunice, NM placed fourth in the short round and finished fifth in the average.
Team ropers Jacob Rounds of Broadalbin, NY and Koly Ray Spears of Lovington, NM made the short round again at their second rodeo of the season. Rounds and Spears did not place in the long round, but took third place in the short round and fourth in the average. Arianna Assini of Oracle, AZ and Justin Stegall of Morristown, AZ made the short round, but had a tough time and did not qualify for the long round. Assini and Stegall have had some really good runs this season and will continue to improve. Team ropers Brett Clark of Magdalena, NM and Carter Bearup from New Mexico State University, split first and second places in the long round. They had a little trouble in the short round and took sixth place in the average.
Sharlie Macdonald of Camp Verde, AZ had a strong performance at the Cochise College rodeo. Macdonald made the short round in both the goat tying and in the breakaway events. She barely missed placing in the average in the breakaway event and took fifth place in goat tying.
The Mesalands Rodeo Team will be competing at their home rodeo this weekend. The 8th Annual Mesalands Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Fall Rodeo will be held on Friday, October 9th and Saturday, October 10th at the Quay County Rodeo Arena. The first rodeo performance will begin at 6:00 pm on Friday. On Saturday, slack will begin at 9:00 am and the championship performance is at 6:00 pm. Tickets are $5 for adults, $2.00 for seniors 55 and over, and children under 12 are free accompanied by a paying adult. There is no admission for slack.
“We have the opportunity to use our everyday practice arena as our competition arena. Our student athletes want to perform well in front of their home crowd and prove that we belong amongst the best teams in the region,” Coach Abbott said. “Honeycutt Rodeo also does a tremendous job putting on a rodeo performance that is entertaining and highly productive. Spectators should expect a fast-paced, action packed rodeo this weekend.”
