Rodeo Team crowned reserve champions and wins bareback riding championship title at Mesalands Spring Rodeo

April 20, 2015

The Mesalands Community College Rodeo Team hosted their first intercollegiate spring rodeo competition last weekend at the Quay County Rodeo Arena. The rough stock and the timed event cattle provided by the Honeycutt Rodeo Inc. were tough to beat. The Men’s Team was crowned the reserve champion (second place) with 500 points and clinched the bareback riding championship title.

Tim Abbott, Interim Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach at Mesalands said that he had about a dozen contestants and five rodeo coaches from other teams, tell him they thought the

Sophomore Edmiles Harvey wins the bareback riding championship title at the first Mesalands Community College Spring Rodeo last weekend. Harvey is currently leading the Grand Canyon Region.

Sophomore Edmiles Harvey wins the bareback riding championship title at the first Mesalands Community College Spring Rodeo last weekend. Harvey is currently leading the Grand Canyon Region.

Mesalands Spring Rodeo, was the best rodeo of the year. They commended him on the fantastic facilities and the quality of the stock.

“I thought from a production stand point, it was about as good as a rodeo can get, on a college level,” said Tim Abbott, Interim Intercollegiate Rodeo Coach at Mesalands. “This is my third rodeo to put on here at Mesalands and I think each one of them has improved upon the last. We just continue to raise the bar. I think it’s a credit to how professional the Honeycutts are and how prepared they are, plus the workforce of the Mesalands students on the Rodeo Team, and the Mesalands staff and faculty who volunteered their time, and continue to support our rodeo program.”

Sophomore Edmiles Harvey of Tsalini Springs, AZ put up a fight at the Mesalands Spring Rodeo and  won the championship title in the bareback riding event. Harvey earned 73 points on his first horse and 75 points on his second for a total of 148 points. He was the only contestant that had a qualify ride on two horses. After the Mesalands Spring Rodeo, Harvey is now leading the Grand Canyon Region in bareback riding and is 10th in the nation. Harvey also won the bareback riding championship title at the Mesalands Fall Rodeo in October and is a 2015 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) qualifier.

 Edmiles Harvey shows off his bareback riding championship belt buckle at the Mesalands Community College Spring Rodeo. Buckle presenters (left) Dennis Roch, State Representative; Ty Marshall (middle), winner of the Mesalands Community College Foundation, Inc. “Rodeo Package;” and (right) Dr. Thomas W. Newsom, President of Mesalands.

Edmiles Harvey shows off his bareback riding championship belt buckle at the Mesalands Community College Spring Rodeo. Buckle presenters (left) Dennis Roch, State Representative; Ty Marshall (middle), winner of the Mesalands Community College Foundation, Inc. “Rodeo Package;” and (right) Dr. Thomas W. Newsom, President of Mesalands.

Sophomore Devyn Sisneros of Santa Rosa, NM was second in the long round and bucked off his short round horse in saddle bronc riding,   He still finished third in the average with 76 points. Sisneros moved from fourth in the region, to third place.

In bull riding, there was only one qualified ride the entire weekend by Jalen Joaquin from Cochise College. Abbott said that this was not a surprise and is a testament to the quality of stock provided by Honeycutt Rodeo. He said all of the 20 bulls that were bucked at the rodeo, were outstanding.

Chace Valdez of Estancia, NM was the reserve steer wrestling champion last weekend, with a time of 25.5. This was his first time to compete in the steer wrestling event this season. Valdez is also second in the region in tie down roping.

Chace Valdez of Estancia, NM was the reserve steer wrestling champion last weekend, with a time of 25.5. This was his first time to compete in the steer wrestling event this season.

Steer wrestler freshman Chace Valdez of Estancia, NM, was the reserve champion last weekend, only two tenths of a second from winning the rodeo, with a time of 25.5 seconds. This was his very first time to compete in the steer wrestling event this season. Valdez normally competes in tie down roping and is now second in the region. Valdez is not new to steer wrestling however, qualifying twice for the high school national finals in this event. He plans to compete in steer wrestling at the next rodeo. Freshman Chance Stucker of Orville, WA, had a time of 30.7 seconds and finished fourth in the average. Sophomore Jacob Rounds of Brooklyn, NY was fourth in the short round.

Team ropers sophomore Brett Clark (header) of Magdalena, NM and sophomore Adriano Long (heeler) of Dilkon, AZ were the reserve champions with a time of 17.1 seconds. Long is known for his performance in the bull riding event, but had been practicing team roping for a while. He borrowed a horse and a rope to compete at the Mesalands Rodeo and was only four tenths of a second away from winning the entire rodeo. Another bull rider that competed in team roping last weekend was freshman Kasy Baker (heeler) of Cottonwood, CA and Kelsi Ann Eastman (header) of Central Arizona College. They took eighth place in the average with a time of 10.6 seconds.

“On behalf of Mesalands Community College and the Mesalands Rodeo Team, I would like to thank the sponsors, volunteers, and supporters of the first Mesalands Spring Rodeo and all of the activities for the Mesalands Spring Rodeo Weekend,” said Dr. Thomas W. Newsom, President of Mesalands. “I especially want to thank all of the Mesalands faculty, staff, and students that volunteered their time to make this weekend a success. I also want to thank the City of Tucumcari and the Lodger’s Tax for helping us fund these community activities.”

To kick off the  “Mesalands  Spring Rodeo Weekend,” the College also hosted Stampede Fiesta  on April 16 and had a Ranch Rodeo on April 18-19.

The final Grand Canyon Region rodeo will take place at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM, April 24-26, 2015.

Below are the Grand Canyon Regional Standings and the national standings as of April 20, 2015:
The top three in each event qualify for the college finals.

Bareback Riding
Edmiles Harvey 1st Place and 10th Place Nationally

Saddle Bronc Riding
Devyn Sisneros 3rd Place

Bull Riding
Adriano Long 2nd Place
Jake Carr 4th Place
Kasy Baker 5th Place

Tie Down Roping
Chace Valdez 2nd Place and 3rd Place Nationally

Steer Wrestling
Jacob Rounds 3rd Place and 8th Place Nationally

Team Roping
Chance Hunter 3rd Place (header)
Sam Tyler 3rd Place (heeler)

Breakaway Roping
Betty Pack 2nd Place and 6th Place Nationally