MURRAY, Ky. - Freshman barrel racer Riley Kate Lenagar was the highlight of the weekend for the Northwest rodeo team in last weekend's fall curtain-closer at Murray State University.

Lenagar placed fourth in the short-go and finished fourth in the average score, giving the Lady Rangers a seventh place finish, the women's first placing of the season.

Though Lenagar was the only one from both men's and women's teams to earn a spot in the finals, bull rider Zachary Johnson did earn a 7.8 second ride, finishing just outside the threshold needed to advance to the finals. Barrel racer Kyndal Key also ran a solid 16.02 time in the Friday morning slack, while Lucy Denton clocked an initial time of 15.43, but a hit barrel penalized her five seconds as neither rider advanced to the finals.

With the first leg of the 2021-22 season in the books, Northwest sits eighth overall in the men's Ozark Region standings, while the Lady Rangers are currently placed 10th. Individually, Colby Burgess ranks third in the region in bull riding, as his 200 points sit just behind Wyatt Hart's 220 second-place points (UT Martin). Teammates Johnson and Cody Gilbert also rank eighth and sixth, respectively.

Northwest will resume competition in February 2022 at East Mississippi. The full spring schedule will be released soon and can be found on nwccrangers.com when available.