Rodeo teams ride toward end of fall season with region rankings

by Danielle Gonzales, editorial assistant

The South Plains College men’s and women’s rodeo teams are doing well as the fall season draws to a close.

 The rodeo teams went to Vernon to compete on Oct. 8-10. The women’s team scored 235 team points, placing third overall. The men's team scored 60 team points.

Brittany Bell scored 170 points and placed first in the goat tying competition. Bell had a time of 7.80 seconds in the long round and a time of 7.3 seconds in the short round, giving her a combined time of 15.10 seconds and the event championship.

Tally Owens finished seventh in the event with a combined time of 17.5 seconds.

                                                                     Haley Nelson added 65 points to the

                                                                     team score with a combined time of

                                                                    34.37 seconds and a fourth-place finish overall.

Ben Ramey earned 60 team points for the men's teams. Ramey placed fourth overall in steer wrestling. He had a time of 5.9 seconds in the long round and 5.9 seconds in the short round. 

The Lady Texans and Texan rodeo teams competed at Frank Phillips College in Borger on Oct. 1-3. The Lady Texans scored 380 points and finished in first place. The men’s team finished fifth overall with 205 points.

 “Oh, it’s great,” SPC rodeo coach Josh Crowe said of his team’s performances so far this season. “Anytime you are winning first in the region, it’s good.”

The Lady Texans were boosted by outstanding performances by Bell, Nelson, Owens and Carley Richardson. In barrel racing, Nelson earned a total of 150 points for the Lady Texans, with times of 17.33 seconds for the first round and 17.38 for the second round.

Bell finished the first round in goat tying in a tie for fourth. Owens posted a time of 8.5 seconds in the first round and 8.00 seconds in the second round.  Her combined times of 16.5 seconds earned her a third-place finish overall, and she earned 115 team points for the Lady Texans.

Richardson finished seventh with a time of 3.00 seconds. She advanced to the short round and had a time of 3.6 seconds, scoring 50 points for the team. She had a combined time of 6.6 seconds, tied for second overall, and scored another 45 points for the team.

On the men’s side, Ramey competed in steer wrestling and won the overall title. His times combined for a total of 10.5 seconds, which earned him 140 team points.

Ben McPherson also scored a total of 65 team points, as he finished fifth overall in bull riding.

The Lady Texans rank at the top of the Southwest region with 890 points, while the Texans rank eighth with 480 points.

“We’re kind of in a reconstructive stage with our men’s team, so it may be a year or so before we can get it back to the point where we want it to be,” Crowe said.

The Texans and Lady Texans will finish the fall schedule Oct. 15-17 at Texas Tech University.