MURRAY, Ky. – Murray State hosted its 41st Annual Racer College Rodeo this past weekend with a unique twist, combining two rodeos into a four-day event from Thursday to Sunday.

Northwest sent 13 competitors to Kentucky to compete in bareback, calf roping, breakaway, steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing and bull-riding, and placed fifth and fourth on the men's side, respectively, in two events. 

John Mark Johnson had some bad luck and was bucked off both bareback horses during Murray State's opening two-day event but Alex Lockhart placed second in bareback on the second round with a 65 point ride to bring home points for the men's team.

"The stock was good this past weekend and I'm glad I could bring home points," Lockhart said.

Garner Holcomb and Morgan Mills scored their first win in team roping, winning third place in the short-go. Their roping times put them fifth overall in the team roping.

During the second two-day Murray State event, Johnson won the second round in bareback riding with a 60 point ride to place first.

Holcomb was sitting on the bubble in 10th place in steer wrestling before the last performance and was knocked out of qualifying for the short-go at the last minute.

Holcomb got some revenge, however, in team roping with Mills during the second rodeo. The duo placed first during the long-go and brought back a good bit of points to the men's team.

"I feel like we broke the ice for Northwest this past weekend at Murray," Holcomb said. "My partner and I worked hard for this big win."

Northwest's men's team is sitting sixth in the Ozark Region with several team members ranking in the top 10. Johnson is sitting fourth in bareback and Lockhart is sitting fifth. That puts John Mark and Alex close into moving up into a position that will take them to the national finals this year. 

Holcomb and Mills bumped into seventh  place in team roping with their performance this past weekend.

Northwest will close out the fall rodeo circuit at Southern Arkansas University Nov. 3-5.

"I'm looking forward to our final event and have enjoyed watching us improve over the semester," head coach Shelli Benton said. "I'm also very pleased with where we sit in the Ozark Region at this point of the season."