March 24, 2014

The Mesalands Community College’s Rodeo Team had their best rodeo of the season last weekend at the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. The Men’s Rodeo Team earned 687 points and took second place at the rodeo. The Men’s Team also brought home three individual championship titles. The Women’s Team also had a good performance, earning 107 points and finished the rodeo in sixth place.

“This was absolutely our best rodeo of the year!,” said Tim Abbott, Interim Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach at Mesalands Community College.  “We are seeing the kind of improvement that I’ve witnessed in the practice pen all semester. Now it’s starting to show at the rodeos and that’s extremely encouraging.”

Team ropers sophomore Daniel Baeza (heeler) of Chihuahua, Mexico and Chaz Kananen (header) of Roy, MT electrified another rodeo, winning their third consecutive championship title this season. They dominated the rodeo with a time of 6.3 seconds, improving their chances to compete at the College National Finals Rodeo.

“I’m really excited because we are doing much better this semester. We have just been practicing every day and just doing the best we can,” Baeza said.

In bareback riding, sophomore Edmiles Harvey of Tsalina Springs, AZ secured his championship title last weekend. Harvey had a strong performance with a final score of 75 points.

Freshman Sam Taylor of New South Wales, Australia, was also determined to win his first rodeo in saddle bronc riding. All of Taylor’s hard work paid off last weekend. Taylor took first place and brought home his first championship title this season.

Sophomore Betty Pack of Aztec, NM continues to advance in the breakaway roping event. At the University of Arizona rodeo, Pack finished third with a time of 3.5 seconds, closely behind second place with a time of 3.3 seconds. Pack has performed remarkably well the last two weeks, placing in the top five in the last three rodeos in Arizona.

The bull riders had a tough rodeo last weekend. Sophomore Devren Myers of Santa Fe, NM was one of two point earners at the rodeo finishing second place at the rodeo.

In tie-down roping, Kit Pettigrew of Ft. Sumner, NM competed well at the rodeo, considering he drew a calf that was not one of the Team’s top picks. Pettigrew finished in third place with a time of 12.7 seconds, second place had a time of 12.6 seconds.

“Our Team is starting to perform incredibly well. We have three rodeos left and there are still a lot of points on the table. Our goal is to move into that second spot in the region, to qualify our Men’s Team to the College National Finals,” Coach Abbott said. “I’m just really excited about the rest of the season.”

Grand Canyon Regional standings as of March 24, 2014:

Men’s Rodeo Team
4^th Place

Women’s Rodeo Team
6^th Rodeo Team

Samuel Taylor
4^th Saddle Bronc Riding

Edmiles Harvey
3^rd Bareback Riding

Devren Myers
2^nd Bull Riding

Adriano Long
4^th  Bull Riding

Kit Pettigrew
2^nd Tie-Down Roping

Hayden Moore
13^th Steer Wrestling

Mike McGinn
10^th Steer Wrestling

Chaz Kananen
2^nd Team Roping Header

Daniel Baeza
2^nd Team Roping Heeler

Morgan McVay
5^th Team Roping Heeler

Trey Blackmore
13^th Team Roping Heeler

Betty Pack
5^th Breakaway Roping

The Mesalands Rodeo Team will be competing at Navajo Technical College on April 4-5, 2014 in Gallup, NM.