The Eastern New Mexico rodeo team had multiple representatives from both the men’s and women’s team qualify for Saturday night’s short go this weekend at the Western Texas Rodeo.
Five members from the women’s team and three members from the men’s team led the teams to a pair of top ten finishes with just two more rodeos remaining on the 2018-19 schedule for the Greyhounds. The women’s team finished in eighth place with a total of 40 points, while the men’s team split eighth and ninth place with a total of 60 points for the event.
Four different contestants from Eastern New Mexico qualified for the short round in the toughest breakaway roping event of any rodeo throughout this year’s Southwest Region circuit. Senior Emily Logan registered a time of 2.1 on her first calf in the long go, barely making the cut for a highly competitive long round that saw nine cowgirls record a time of 2.1 seconds or better.
Logan made the most of the opportunity and matched her long go time on Saturday night with another mark of 2.1 to win the round on Saturday night and finish second in the average for the event. Sophomore Catherine Hisel also posted a top-five finish in the event, splitting second in the long go with a time of 1.9 seconds and finishing fourth in the short go with a time of 2.7 seconds to finish fourth in the average as well.
Sophomore Molly Griffin continued her consistent spring semester and qualified for her third straight short go with a time of 1.9 seconds in the first round to split second place and secure 40 points for the Eastern New Mexico team score. Griffin was unable to secure a time in the short go, but has established herself as one of the region’s most consistent performers throughout the spring semester.
Freshman Kaden Schulte served as the fourth Greyhound to qualify for the short go in the breakaway roping, placing fifth in the first go with a time of 2.0, but failed to place in the short round or the average on Saturday night. Junior Saige Bell also qualified for the short round in the goat tying event with a time of 7.8 in the long round, but didn’t record a time fast enough to jump up into the top of the standings on Saturday night.
Eastern New Mexico had three Greyhounds qualify for the short round on the men’s side in the team roping competition, including the all Greyhound team of Luke Hisel and Wesley Gudgell. Hisel and Gudgell place sixth in the first go with a time of 6.4 seconds to qualify for the short round Saturday night, during which time they failed to record a time good enough to jump up into the standings for the round or the average.
Freshman Stran Thompson competed with a partner from South Plains Junior College in the team roping event and recorded a time of 6.8 seconds to qualify back for Saturday night. Thompson and his comrade posted a time of 8.6 seconds in the short go to finish in fifth place in the round and fifth place in the average, earning Thompson 40 points to add to the team score.
The Eastern New Mexico rodeo team will have a quick turnaround as they will head to Big Spring, Texas to compete in the Howard College Rodeo this weekend for their final tune-up before the final event of the season on April 25-27 at Tarleton State University.
