MAGNOLIA, AR – The Northwest Mississippi Community College rodeo team saw several strong individual performances and the men's team placed fifth, adding 300 points to their Ozark Region standings at the Southern Arkansas University Rodeo this past weekend.
The strongest week for the Rangers came in bull riding where a pair of Northwestern athletes made it back to the short go, headlined by Dakota Smith who has qualified for the short go in all three rodeos so far. His 83 on the first bull that he rode won the long go and while he didn't stay on during his second ride, no other contestant did either and he walked away with 120 points on the weekend.
That keeps Smith at the top of the region in bulls, extending his lead over Jace Hensley of Missouri Valley College to 145 points and giving him a 300-point edge over Joe Replogie of Missouri State University – West Plains who holds down third.
Adding his name into the standings was Jayden Jackson who rode his first bull of the season to a 70-point score in the opening round to pick up 20 points as the fifth best ride of the rodeo. He added another 30 after one rider pulled out before his final ride and walked away with 50 points in the region standings for the weekend and moved into eighth place in the standings.
It was also a good weekend in steer wrestling for the Rangers who had four make it back to the short go, dominating the field as the only team to bring back more than one athlete.
Leading the way for the Rangers was Hank Burgess who was second in the first round with a 5.8 and was one of only three cowboys to catch their steer in the short go, taking second place with a 10.2 and winning the average with a 16.0 time on two head. His 160 points in the rodeo bumped him all the way up to fifth in the region standings in what is one of the most tightly contested on the men's side of the Ozark so far.
Kent Jordan also added some points to his standings with a great run in his first round to take the top time with a 4.9 but he failed to catch his second steer and had to settle for fourth place in the average. He still added 90 points and moved all the way up to seventh in the region with 115 points to his name.
Both Brayden Mahon and Will Collier also made it back with times of 10.5 and 14.8 respectively but both failed to catch their second steers and finished with no points in the rodeo. Both are still in the top of the region standings though after good showings in previous rodeos with Mahon sitting in 6th with 140 points and Collier is in third with 200.
Colbran Ingram closed out the men's point earners from the rodeo in calf roping. After making it back to the short go in fifth place with a 12.0 on his first run, the sophomore had a tougher time on his second opportunity, finishing with a 16.1 which was eighth in the go, and he would finish in the same place in the average. He did end up picking up 20 points for his regional standings and remains in the hunt for the region crown with 100 on the season. That puts him only 60 points out of third place and just 70 out of second with two rodeos remaining in the fall portion of the season.
One the women's side, Reagan Chance made it back to the short go in barrel racing and scooped up five points with a 16.28 on her first run of the pattern. Unfortunately for Chance, she tipped a barrel on her second run and at 16.21 turned into a 21.21, bumping her from a sixth-place finish in the go to seventh and she finished at the back of the pack in the average as well.
One Ranger did make it back in team roping but Tate Williams and his partner Kristen McDonald of Murray State University failed to catch their second steer and couldn't move up to pick up any points.
Team wise, the Ranger men remained in third place in the region as they continue to trail both the University of West Alabama and Missouri Valley College in the standings, with the top two teams qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo next June. The Ranger women sit in seventh place in their standings but are only a few hundred points out of the second place spot.
The Rangers will look to build on the performance as they remain in Arkansas for their next rodeo, making the trip to Monticello for the Boll Weevil Stampede hosted by the University of Arkansas – Monticello. Action begins on Thursday the 16th with the opening performance at 7:00 PM and slack to follow.
More slack will be run on Friday morning at 9:00 AM with the second performance at 7:00 pm and final slack runs will take place on Saturday morning at 10:00 AM with the short go wrapping things up at 7:00 pm that night.
For more information on the complete rodeo team schedule, visit nwccrangers.com or follow along on Northwest social media accounts.
