Mesalands men’s rodeo team claims 2nd at home rodeo

link Staff Photo: Thomas Garcia: Sophomore Edmiles Harvey works on keeping his form during his first of two bareback bronc rides during the Mesalands Spring Rodeo on Friday and Saturday in Tucumcari. Harvey went on to win the

championship, his second home rodeo title win, and is currently leading the Grand Canyon Region

standings.

Staff Report

The Mesalands Community College men’s rodeo team earned reserve champion and won a bareback riding title this weekend at their first intercollegiate spring rodeo competition at the Quay County Rodeo Arena in Tucumcari.

Tim Abbott, interim rodeo xoach at Mesalands said that he had about a dozen contestants and five rodeo coaches from other teams, tell him they thought the Mesalands Spring Rodeo, was the best rodeo of the year. They commended him on the fantastic facilities and the quality of the stock.

The rough stock and the timed event cattle were provided by the Honeycutt Rodeo Inc.

“I thought from a production stand point, it was about as good as a rodeo can get on a college level,” Abbott said. “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.”

The men’s rodeo team secured the second place finish scoring 500 points during the weekend events.

Mesalands sophomore Edmiles Harvey of Tsalini Springs, Arizona put up a fight at the Spring rodeo earning 73 points on his first horse and 75 points on his second for a total of 148 points. Harvey was the only contestant to qualify on two horses. He won the championship title in the same event at the Mesalands Fall Rodeo in October. Harvey is now leading the Grand Canyon Region in bareback riding, is 10th in the nation and is a 2015 College National Finals Rodeo qualifier.

Sophomore Devyn Sisneros of Santa Rosa 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 bucked at the rodeo were outstanding.

Steer wrestler freshman Chace Valdez of Estancia, 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, Washington, had a time of 30.7 seconds and finished fourth in the average. Sophomore Jacob Rounds of Brooklyn, New York was fourth in the short round.

Team ropers sophomore Brett Clark (header) of Magdalena, and sophomore Adriano Long (heeler) of Dilkon, Arizona 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, California 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.”

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 Mesalands team’s 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

1. Edmiles Harvey -10th place nationally

Saddle Bronc Riding

3. Devyn Sisneros

Bull Riding

2. Adriano Long

4. Jake Carr

5. Kasy Baker

Tie Down Roping

2. Chace Valdez –3rd place nationally

Steer Wrestling

3. Jacob Rounds 8th place nationally

Team Roping

3. Chance Hunter (header)

3. Sam Tyler (heeler)

Breakaway Roping

2. Betty Pack - 6th place nationally