LAMAR, Colo. – Chadron State College had a season-high 10 entries reach the finals at the Lamar College Rodeo last weekend, with half of them finishing among the top four in their event.
The highest placer was
Jess Harper of Faith, S.D., who joined his brother, Drew, who attends Gillette College, to finish second in team roping. Drew is the header and Jess is the heeler. The Harper's times were 14.1 and 7.1 seconds.
Three Chadron State contestants were third place finishers. That included freshman
Ryan Eilers, a graduate of Arthur County High School, in breakaway roping, which had 123 entries. She roped her calves in 2.8 and 3.8 seconds.
The others earning thirds were sophomore
Leighton Sanders in bareback riding with scores of 77 and 73 points and senior
Layne Palmer of Kadoka, S.D. in tie down roping in 13.7 and 13.3 seconds.
Another CSC tie down roper,
Pepper Rhyne of Craig, Colo., was fourth in the event out of 61 entries. Rhyne's times were 12.3 and 19.5 seconds.
The remaining Chadron State contestants didn't have good fortune during Sunday's finals. That included
Mejrusa Rustemovic of Kiowa, Colo., and Sage Wheatly of Kremmling, Colo., in barrel racing. Their times of 18.69 and 18.83 seconds, respectively, put them among the top 10 after all 110 entries had run the cloverleaf pattern in the long go-round, but both toppled a barrel during their second runs.
In addition,
Shelby Derner of New Underwood, S.D., was a breakaway roping finalist with a time of 3.0 seconds, but she didn't catch her second calf.
Amanda Sellin of Norfolk and
Levi Noyes of Bighorn, Mont., and the brother-sister team of Marcus and
Maria Mader of Broadus, Mont., had similar fates in team roping, each making the short-go but not recording a time in the finals.
The last rodeo of the fall season in the Central Rocky Mountain Region will be at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne this coming weekend, Oct. 9-11.
