Mesalands Rodeo Team ready for spring competitions

February 22, 2016

Caption (left) Arianna Assini from Oracle, AZ competing in the goat tying event at the 8th Annual Mesalands Community College Intercollegiate Fall Rodeo. Assini qualified for the championship round in three events. The Women’s Team brought home the reserve championship title.

Caption (left) Arianna Assini from Oracle, AZ competing in the goat tying event at the 8th Annual Mesalands Community College Intercollegiate Fall Rodeo. Assini qualified for the championship round in three events. The Women’s Team brought home the reserve championship title.

The Mesalands Community College Rodeo Team will kick off the spring season at Cochise College in Ft. Huachuca, AZ on March 5-6, 2016. The Mesalands Rodeo Team will have a total of seven rodeo competitions this semester, including hosting their Spring Rodeo in April.

Mesalands Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach Tim Abbott, says with only three rodeos in the fall, the Mesalands Rodeo Team had a chance to gain some experience competing at the college-level and time to improve in between semesters. He says this is especially true for the 28 freshmen on the Team, out of a total of 40 members.

“What I’m looking forward to the most for the spring semester is that we do have seven rodeos in about an eight-week span. It’s a very busy two months for us, but this gives us an opportunity to get on a roll and to build on that momentum. I tell all of our student athletes that winning is a habit and we just get the chance to build on that habit,” Coach Abbott said. “We have both guys and girls that are definitely in contention of regional championships and college final births. But there are so many rodeos left this semester that we can’t assume anything. We just have to keep our heads down and keep working.”

Coach Abbott says this time of year he can tell the student athletes that stayed focused and continued to work hard during the winter break. He said he is excited to report that the vast majority of the Team came back this semester extremely focused and ready to compete again.

The Mesalands Rodeo Team will also hold the Mesalands Spring Rodeo on April 22-23, 2016 at the Quay County Rodeo Arena. The Mesalands Fiesta is April 21 at the North American Wind Research and Training Center.

“I’m very excited and very thankful that we get to have a second annual spring rodeo,” Coach Abbott said. “We do such a good job as a community and as a College putting on a great production. So having two again this year is fun for us and it’s an advantage for us. Twenty-percent of our regular rodeo season happens at the arena we practice in every day. We look forward to another strong showing this year.”