The NMHU Rodeo Team traveled to Tucumcari, NM on 9/18-19 to compete in the first competition of the 2009-2010 rodeo season. The team earned first place honors for each event they were entered.
On the men’s side
Jesse Estrada obtained a spot to the short round in the Bareback Riding, where he finished with a 4th place.
Dustin Pool made the short round in the steer wrestling event, however he had a tough steer to catch and came out of the dust with a no time.
Dirk Tavenner, in his first college rodeo of his young career, made the short round in the steer wrestling. He had the best fundamental run of the rodeo to stop the clock in 5.0 seconds to earn him a 3rd place finish in the short round and a 4th overall for the weekend.
On the women’s side,
Amy Wilson started her first season as a Cowgirl with a short round qualification in the Breakaway roping event. However, Wilson had an unfortunate foul catch on her calf to win the event.
Samantha Lane also started her first year as a Cowgirl off nicely by qualifying in two events to the short round. Lane came back in the Goat Tying event but had some difficulties and received a penalty. She then showed her consistency in the Barrel Racing with another 18.6 second run. However, she was just out of placing.
Overall the Cowboys and Cowgirls started off the season with a great learning experience. “They are great athletes with a long future ahead of them, we will work harder to get it done next time” Coach Peek said.
The NMHU Rodeo Team then traveled to Douglas, AZ for their second competition in the Grand Canyon Region. All of the athletes stepped up and started to show their true talents during the competition.
Jose Griego returned to the winner’s circle where he was last year at this event to win the Bull Riding event. Griego qualified on a good ride in the long go and then in the short round he showed his grit and consistency to ride good bulls. He put 72 points on the board and the only cowboy to ride two head for the win in the Bull Riding event.
Jesse Estrada earned a qualification to the short round with a 5th place finish in the long go of the Bareback Riding. Once in the short round he turned on the gas going for first too much on a rank horse and came off with .3 seconds left to make a qualified ride and win a huge chunk in the competition.
Riley Pollard and
Jacob Smith teamed up for the weekend in the Team Roping event and came away successful. They split 6th in the long go and stayed consistent in the short round to finish 4th in the round and overall.
Dustin Pool had a good weekend qualifying in two events to the short round. He split 6th in the long go of the Tie Down Roping to go to the short round and had a no time on a running calf. Then his second qualification came in the Steer Wrestling event with a tough time on his first steer. However, he made a great run on his second steer to move him up to a 3rd place finish and a 4th overall finish.
Callie Jo Moore had an outstanding first round run of 3.4 seconds to win 3rd in the long go of the Breakaway. However, in the short round she had a calf that ran hard and her loop didn’t connect.
Sarah Zybach qualified in the 9th position of the Goat Tying to the short round with her blazing time of 9.0 seconds as she split 1st in the short round and had a come from behind 2nd place finish.
Dixie Richards made her first short round as a Cowgirl in the Goat Tying. She won 2nd in the long go with a great time of 9.2 seconds. However, in the short round she had some problems, but was able to salvage a 6th place overall finish.