Mesalands' spring rodeo season begins

Staff Report

The Mesalands Community College Rodeo Team will kick off its spring season on March 5-6 at Cochise College in Ft. Huachuca, Arizona.

The Mesalands Rodeo Team will take part in seven rodeo competitions this semester, including hosting its annual Spring Rodeo in April.

With only three rodeos in the fall, the Mesalands rodeo team had a chance to gain some experience competing at the college-level and time to improve in between semesters, Tim Abbott, Mesalands intercollegiate rodeo coach .

Abbott said this is especially true for the 28 freshmen on the 40-member team.

“What I'm looking forward to the most for the spring semester is that we do have seven rodeos in about an eight-week span. It's a very busy two months for us, but this gives us an opportunity to get on a roll and to build on that momentum. I tell all of our student athletes that winning is a habit and we just get the chance to build on that habit,” Abbott said. “We have both guys and girls that are definitely in contention of regional championships and college final births. There are so many rodeos left this semester that we can't assume anything. We just have to keep our heads down and keep working.”

Abbott said this time of year he can tell which student athletes stayed focused and continued to work hard during the winter break. He said he is excited to report that the vast majority of the team returned this semester extremely focused and ready to compete again.

Stampede Week will be begin on April 18 featuring daily events including the Mesalands Fiesta held on April 21 at the North American Wind Research and Training Center. The week will be capped of with Mesalands’ Spring Rodeo held on April 22-23 at the Quay County Rodeo Arena.

“I'm very excited and very thankful that we get to have a second annual spring rodeo,” Abbott said. “We do such a good job as a community and as a college putting on a great production. So having two again this year is fun for us and it's an advantage for us. Twenty percent of our regular rodeo season happens at the arena we practice in every day. We look forward to another strong showing this year.”