MONTICELLO, Ark. – The Northwest men's rodeo team finished in sixth place at the Arkansas-Monticello event over the weekend to move into sixth in the region with three events left this spring.

Northwest's men brought in 270 points for the rodeo that Southern Arkansas and UT-Martin tied with at 535 points.

"Our guys are inching up in the region and nation with each event," head coach Shelli Benton said. "The CNFR is looking hopeful for our men's team this June. I am super proud of their accomplishments this past year."

Thursday evening started out a little rough, with Alex Lockhart and John Mark Johnson getting bucked off their horses before the 8-second timer. Will Tindall had an excellent start at roping his calf and finished up the evening in third place with a time of 10.7 seconds.

Tindall's time, however, didn't hold after Friday night's performance to make it back to the short-go round. The top 10 compete in the championship round and he finished 11th overall.

Lockhart covered his bareback horse with a score of 59 during Friday's performance, and the roping team of Garner Holcomb and Morgan Mills roped their steer with a time of 6.3 that put them in fifth place to qualify for the short-go championship round.

Holcomb also caught his steer in steer wrestling at a time of 7.0 and qualified for the short-go. Kelby Wall and J.R. Dukes had no luck in the bull riding, getting bucked off.

Saturday night was looking promising with all of Northwest's men in the championship round. But Johnson was bucked off and Holcomb drew a horrible steer that stopped right out of the chute in steer wrestling and he received a no-time.

Holcomb and Mills came back in the championship round strong, roping their steer with a 6.0 time to leave them second in the region after the performance. Kennith Scott and Shawn Davis just didn't make the 8-second buzzer, getting bucked off.

"A big thanks to Mr. Emit Williams for letting us come rope his steers," Mills said. "We are going to stay focused and see where the rest of the season takes us." 

For Northwest's women, Kelsey Phillips received a no-time in breakaway roping. Friday slack started off slow, with Lauren Aker finishing with a clean run of 16.78 in barrels, followed by Bethney Bowie at a 23.15 and Phillips with a 16.53. Those were just not fast enough for a short go-qualification.

Klarissa Neff drew a tough calf that darted out of the chute to the left a little and didn't get lined back up enough to catch in breakaway roping so she received a no-time.

Northwest will return to action April 6-8 at UT-Martin.