CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State cowboys
Sid Miller and
Jake Chasek captured the top two places in tie down roping at the CSC rodeo last weekend to help their team get the season off to a promising start.
Miller, a sophomore from Merna, claimed the top honor with times of 12.9 and 11.7 seconds for a 24.6 total. Chasek, a senior from Mitchell, roped and tied his calves in 11.5 and 13.5 seconds to finish just behind Miller with a 25.0 overall.
Held over Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Dawes County Fairgrounds in Chadron, the rodeo was a popular event. At least 450 contestants participated and many of their friends and relatives came to watch, with the grandstand nearly full for the Friday night performance.
Chadron State also had two placewinners in bareback riding. Freshman Tanner Olson of Gordon was the runner-up while scoring 75 and 72 points on some rowdy Muddy Creek Rodeo Co. broncs, and
Cinch Kiger, a junior from Overton, was sixth while earning 67 and 69 points. Colton Farrow of the University of Wyoming was the bareback winner with 149 points, two more than Olson's total.
Another top six placewinner for Coach Lane Day's Chadron State team was newcomer Mejrusa Rustemovic of Kiowa, Colorado. She was fourth among the rodeo's 90 barrel racers.
Rustemovic's story is unique. She began taking online courses at CSC this summer, learned that the college had a rodeo team and contacted Coach Lane Day to see if she could join, even though she plans to continue living with her parents in Kiowa, which is located between and a bit east of Denver and Colorado Springs. Rustemovic and her gray gelding, named Player, are not barrel racing novices, placing third in a go-round at the National Western Stock Show in Denver in January.
Several other CSC contestants finished among the top 10 in the long go-round on Friday and Saturday, allowing them to qualify for the finals on Sunday. The cowboys included another tie down roper,
Layne Palmer of Kadoka, South Dakota, steer wrestler Rex Day of Bartlett, Nebraska, and team ropers
Pepper Rhyne of Craig, Colorado, and
Marcus Mader of Broadus, Montana.
Two CSC cowgirls, freshman Josie Anthony of Crofton, Nebraska, and senior
Elle Ravenscroft of Cody, Nebraska, were barrel racing finalists along with Rustemovic. Two breakaway ropers,
Brooke McCully of Mullen and
Makayla Wray of Ord, had the rodeo's fastest times of 2.4 seconds during Friday and Saturday's competition. However, both left the box too early, breaking the barrier and adding 10 seconds to their marks to knock them out of the finals.
McCully was the breakaway runner-up at last year's CSC rodeo. This year's winner was Staheli Adams of Gillette College with runs of 2.8 and 2.4 seconds. Teammate Bailey Grubb was second in breakaway and also placed third in goat tying to become the all-around cowgirl. Adams was the runner-up in the all-around. Gillette easily won the women's team top honor.
While the University of Wyoming won the men's team title, the all-around cowboy title went to Caden Stoddard of Casper College. He placed third behind Miller and Chasek in tie down roping and also was a member of the second-place team roping entry. Chadron State was fourth in the men's team standings.
Other individual event winners in women's events were Loralee Ward of Colorado State at Fort Collins in barrel racing and Josie Mousel of Wyoming in goat tying. Ward is the great niece of Linda Rischling of Chadron. Men earning top honors besides CSC's Miller in tie down roping and UW's Farrow in bareback riding were two more Wyoming cowboys - Jacob Wang in steer wrestling and Emmitt Ross in bull riding. Casper's James Perrin was the saddle bronc winner and the Eastern Wyoming duo of Jace Hurlburt and Eli Leppell won the team roping.
The next rodeo in the Central Rocky Mountain Region will be Sept. 19-21 at Central Wyoming College in Riverton.
The top six placewinners in each event follow:
Key: CSC—Chadron State College; CC—Casper College; CWC-Central Wyoming College; CSU—Colorado State University; EWC—Eastern Wyoming College; GC—Gillette College; NJC—Northeastern Junior College; SC—Sheridan College; UW—University of Wyoming.
Bareback riding—1, Colton Farrow, UW, 75-74, 149 points; 2, Tanner Olson, CSC, 75-72, 147; 3, Reese Reder, CC, 70-74, 144; 4, Monte Downare, CC, 73-67, 140; 5, Eian Smith, CWC, 63.5-73, 137.5; 6,
Cinch Kiger, CSC, 67-69, 136.
Saddle bronc riding—1, James Perrin, CC, 81-76, 157 points; 2, Dixon Tattrie, UW, 75-80, 155; 3, Devon Hay, CC, 76-79, 155; 4, Easton West, CC, 76-77, 153; 5, Jake Schlattmann, SC, 75-76, 151; 6, Brlan Pengelly, CC, 73-74, 147.
Steer wrestling—1, Jacob Wang, UW, 4.0-7.8, 11.8 seconds; 2, David Gallagher, UW, 5.1-7.3, 12.4; 3, Jaxon Mirabal, UW, 8-4-5.1, 13.5; 4, Wyatt Hajny, EWC, 6.5-7.8, 14.3; 5, Jace Mayfield, CWC, 10.3-4.3, 14.6; 6, Gage Davis LCCC, 9.5-8.0, 17.5.
Tie down roping—1,
Sid Miller, CSC, 12.9-11.7, 24.6 seconds; 2,
Jake Chasek, CSC, 11.5-13.5, 25.0; 3, Caden Stoddard, CC, 12.4-14.4, 26.8; 4, Dalton Porch, GC, 11.3-20.9, 32,2; 5, Cam Johnson, GC, 11.6-22.0, 33.6; 6, Jace Mayfield, CWC, 12.7-24.0, 36.7
Team roping—1, Jace Hurlburt & Eli Leppell, EWC, 11.2-8.4, 19.6 seconds; 2, Caden Stoddard & Jace Cozier, CC, 13.7-7.5, 21.2; 3, Trevor Sorge & Tracer Olson, GC, 7.7-0, 7.7 on one; 4, Harley Ann Baas & Aidan Scollard, NJC, 8.2-0, 8.2; 5, Haiden Thompson, GC, & Troupe Coors, UW, 8.8-0, 8.8; 6, Jacob Wang & Jaxon Maribal, UW, 9.4-0, 9.4.
Bull riding—1, Emmit Ross, UW, 80-78, 158 points; 2, Stefan Tonita, UW, 71-72, 142. Only qualified rides.
Goat tying—1, Josie Mousel, UW, 7.0-6.6, 13.6 seconds; 2, Layni Stevens, UW, 7.0-6.8, 13.8; 3, Brylee Grubb, GC, 7.5-7.1, 14.6; 4, Tricia Lammers, CWC, 7.6-7.2, 14.8; 5, Raylee Caldwell, UW, 7.4-7.6, 15.0; 6, Molly Rotenberger, UW, 7.0-8.1, 15.1,
Barrel racing—1, Loralee Ward, CSU, 17.21-17.26, 34.37 seconds; 2, Rayne Grant, UW, 17.31-17.17, 34.48; 3, Ashlyn Govern, GC, 17.54-17.22, 34.76; 4, Mejrusa Rustemovic, CSC, 17.68-17.76, 35.14; 5, Hanna Mendenhall, LCCC, 18.01-17.52, 35.53; 6, McKinlee May, CSU, 17.98-17.58, 35.56.
Breakaway roping—1, Staheli Adams, GC, 2.8-2.4, 5.2 seconds; 2, Brylee Grubb, GC, 2.9-4.2, 7.1; 3, Jaden Mathis, CC, 3.9-3.4, 7.3; 4, Olivia Cullen, NJC, 4.2-3.1, 7.3; 5 Hailey Hardeman, UW, 2.8-0, 2.8 on one; 6 Hanna Mendenhall, LCCC, 3.7-0, 3.7.
