Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Staff Report
Mesalands Community College’s men’s and women’s rodeo teams improved their Grand Canyon regional standings, each winning individual championship titles in two weekend rodeos at Central Arizona College in Florence, Arizona.
The Men's Team is in a solid third-place position in the GCR standings and is vying for second place in order to qualify their team for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR).
During the first rodeo on Saturday, freshman Chace Valdez of Estancia won the championship title in tie-down roping with a time of 10.6 seconds. Valdez currently has a strong lead in the regional standings with 650 points.
The Mesalands men’s team won in tie-down roping on Saturday, said Tim Abbott, Mesalands interim intercollegiate rodeo coach, but rough-stock events “were kind of hard on us.”
No bull-riders even had a qualified ride all weekend, he said.
“The bad part about that is we didn't gain any additional points in the rough-stock events last weekend, but the good thing is we didn't lose our place in any of the regional standings,” he said.
On Sunday, sophomore Betty Pack of Aztec won the breakaway roping championship title with a time of two seconds flat, the fastest time of the season. Pack also celebrate her 21st birthday on Sunday.
Pack, Abbott said, “had a fantastic run and she couldn't have done a better job. She's going to make a big jump in the regional standings towards her third CNFR qualification.”
Pack also earned 229 points last weekend and moved up to second place in the region in breakaway roping. Pack (header) also took fourth place in the team roping event with fellow teammate Clay Lee (heeler) of Portales. Team ropers Chance Hunter (header) and Sam Tyler (heeler) finished fifth in the rodeo.
The Women's Team is currently fourth in the region.
In team roping, freshman Kyle Jurney (header) of Eunice, and Stucker (heeler) were second with a time of 8.2 seconds, their best run all season. Jurney is currently ninth in the region and Stucker is fifth. Team ropers Hunter (header) and Tyler (heeler) both from Chinle, Arizona, finished eighth last weekend. Hunter and Tyler are both sitting fourth in the region.
In bareback riding, sophomore Edmiles Harvey of Tsalini Springs, Arizona took second place during Friday's rodeo. He had a score of 70 points. Harvey is currently leading the region with a total of 446 points.
Sophomore Jacob Rounds of Brooklyn, New York was third in steer wrestling and is currently third in the region.
In saddle bronc riding, sophomore Devyn Sisneros of Santa Rosa finished third place. Sisneros is currently fourth in the region.
Sophomore Adriano Long of Dilkon, Arizona is second in the region in bull riding and freshman Kasy Baker of Cottonwood, California is third.
“We were solid both days, but we didn't come near to maximizing our potential,” Abbott said. “What we need to do next weekend in Tucson is to make sure our student athletes in our timed events and rough stock events, have good performances during the same rodeo,” he said. “That's when our team becomes extremely difficult to beat.”
The Mesalands rodeo teams will be competing next on Saturday at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona.