Another memorable event is in the books as UT Martin hosted the 51st Annual Spring College Rodeo at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Pavilion over the weekend.
Both UTM squads came away with second-place finishes, as the men’s team collected a season-high 655 points and the women’s team cracked the 300-point mark (315) for the second time in 2018-19. Missouri Valley College won the men’s side with 850 points while Arkansas-Monticello took home the women’s title with 590 points.
Three UTM cowboys generated points in a tough bareback riding event, led by Hunter Green. The junior from Bastrop, La. split first in average (144) after finishing first in the opening round (76) and second in the short go (68). Stetson Bierman also produced a solid performance by finishing third in both average (129) and in the short go (66) after taking fourth in the first round (63). Bryce Sifford completed UT Martin’s scoring in the event with a 53 in the short go that placed fifth in the standings.
Chase Thrasher paced UTM in calf roping, as he finished second in average (18.9), second in the short round (9.5) and fourth in the opening go (9.4). Ross Mitchell also earned points in all three phases, as he placed fifth in average (31.4), fifth in the second round (21.1) and sixth in the opening go (10.3).
In breakaway roping, Kailey Schmidt was able to put points on the board for UTM. She placed fifth in both average (6.9) and in the short go (3.9).
Robert Haley outlasted a difficult saddle bronc riding field, as the junior out of Fairhope, Ala. was one of only two cowboys to notch points in all three phases. He topped the event in average (149) and in the opening round (74) while finishing second in the short round with a score of 75.
The duo of Hunter Styles and Mitchell each tallied points for UTM in steer wrestling. Styles came in third place with a time of 3.9 seconds in the opening round before placing fifth with a 10.3 average. Meanwhile, Mitchell placed third with a time of 5.0 flat in the short go and sixth with an 11.0 average.
The women’s team received points out of Schmidt and Jayci Braudrick in goat tying. Schmidt secured points in all three phases, placing third in the opening round (7.2), fourth in average (15.7) and fifth in the short go (8.5). Braudrick’s time of 7.3 seconds in the first round was good enough to split fourth in the event.
In team roping, the UTM tandem of Quentin Sawyer and Will McCraw managed the second-best finish in the field with an average time of 16.0 seconds. That came after the duo placed third in both the first round (7.2) and in the short go (8.8).
Four separate UTM cowgirls earned points in barrel racing. Casey Allen displayed a dominant effort as she led the field in average (27.68) and first round time (13.88) while also placing second in the short go (13.8). Raegan Taylor dialed up points in all three phases, finishing second with a 27.74 average after producing the top time in the short go (13.7) and the sixth-best time in the first round (14.04). Additionally, Madison McFall came in fifth place in the short round (13.97) and sixth place in average (28.11) while Summer Conley’s time of 14.04 seconds in the opening go was placed her sixth in the standings.
UT Martin has one regular season rodeo remaining as it will head to Senatobia, Mississippi for a rodeo hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College on April 25-27.
(UTM Sports Information)
