CHADRON, Neb. – Two Chadron State College contestants, Mejrusa Rustemovic in barrels and Jess Harper in team roping, were among the event winners at the Central Wyoming College rodeo in Riverton this past weekend.
Rustemovic and her gray gelding, Player, were third in the first go-round of the barrels in 18.08 seconds, then won Sunday's finals in 18 seconds flat, the fastest time of the rodeo. Rustemovic, of Kiowa, Colorado, beat a field of 110 barrel-racers to take home the top prize.
Jess Harper, who hails from Faith, S.D., joined forces with his younger brother, Drew, who attends Gillette College, to win the team roping. Drew is the header and while Jess is the heeler, catching both hind legs of the steers each time.
The Harpers finished their first run in 6.8 seconds to place second but had the fastest time of 12.3 seconds in the finals to take top honors. Only one other duo, the Gillette College team of Hayes Espenscheld and Jet Jensen, caught both ends of their steers during Sunday's finals. Espenscheld and Jensen won the first go-round in 5.7 seconds but needed 13.7 seconds to complete their run in the finals, allowing the Harper brothers to beat them by half a second for the title.
CSC's
Pepper Rhyne of Craig, Colo., and
Olivia Lay of DeLeon, Texas, also were among the 10 finalists in team roping with a time of 8.3 seconds in the first go-round, but they were among the eight of 10 finalists that did not get a time during their second run.
Team roping is another popular event with seventy-nine teams, or 158 ropers, entered in the weekend's competition.
Chadron State had two more top five placewinners in their events. Senior
Shelby Derner of New Underwood, S.D., placed fourth in the barrel race with times of 18.24 and 18.82 seconds and sophomore
Leighton Sander of Custer, S.D., finished fifth in bareback riding. Sander scored 60 points on his first bronc, but earned 71 points while placing second in the finals go-round.
This coming weekend's rodeo in the Central Plains Region will be at Sheridan College in northeastern Wyoming.
