March 3, 2014

Despite the very wet conditions at Cochise College in Ft. Huachuca, AZ, the Mesalands Community College’s Rodeo Team brought home the Team Roping Championship Title last weekend. This was their first rodeo of the spring semester and the Men’s Team finished in fourth place with 245 points.

“On the first day of the rodeo we had absolutely miserable conditions. It rained during the entire rodeo that day, making it very difficult for our barrel racers. All things considered we fared pretty well at the rodeo,” said Tim Abbott, Interim Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach at Mesalands.

In team roping, sophomore Chaz Kananen (header) from Roy, MT and sophomore Daniel Baeza (heeler) of Chihuahua, Mexico, won the championship title last weekend with a time of 7.2 seconds. Kananen and Baeza were ahead Saturday evening in the slack. The steer went left really hard, which could be detrimental to the team because it makes it difficult to be faster than the steer.

“Chaz and Daniel were 7.2 on that steer and ended up winning the team roping event by more than a full second,” Coach Abbott said. “Chaz and Daniel are a team that we’ve expected big things out of all year and they made a really good run at Ft. Huachuca.”

Sophomore Hayden Moore (heeler) of Clovis, NM with Rusty VanSoelen (header) from New Mexico State University, also competed well in team roping, taking fifth place.

In bareback riding, sophomore Edmiles Harvey of Tsalini Springs, AZ finished third.

Sophomore Kit Pettigrew of Ft. Sumner, NM took fifth in the average in tie-down roping,

Coach Abbott stated that there were no qualified rides in the bull riding for the entire weekend. He also said that in bareback riding and in breakaway roping, the Team missed some opportunities to place in these events and that they will continue to practice to prepare for the next rodeo at Central Arizona in Florence, AZ, March 15-16, 2014.

Below are the current Grand Canyon Regional standings:

Edmiles Harvey
3^rd Place Bareback Riding

Kit Pettigrew
1^st Place Tie-Down Roping

Hayden Moore
15^th Place Tie-Down Roping
12^th Place Steer Wrestling
11^th Place Team Roping (Heeler)

Sam Taylor
6^th Place Saddle Bronc Riding

John McGinn
8^th Place Steer Wrestling

Chaz Kananen
4^th Place Team Roping (Header)

Daniel Baeza
3^rd Team Roping (Heeler)

Morgan McVay
4^th Place Team Roping (Heeler)

Trey Blackmore
7^th Place Team Roping (Heeler)

Devren Myers
2^nd Bull Riding

Adriano Long
3^rd Bull Riding