NMJC (Rodeo) Sends 8 to the Short Round in Portales
The Thunderbirds sent eight athletes to the Short Round on Saturday, Sept. 20 at the Eastern New Mexico University Rodeo.
Men's Team
The men were led by team roping duo Cord Smith & Louk Thomas who were eighth in the Long Round with a 10.0. Smith and Thomas followed up that performance with a strong Short Round of 8.2 seconds to finish second in the short go. The finish also pushed them to second in the average at 18.2 seconds. The pair recorded 50 points in the short and 50 points in the average to finish with 100 points total at the first rodeo of the year.
Teagan Taylor-Roukema finished in ninth place in the Long Round with a 10.9 second run in the team roping competition. In the short, the sophomore placed fourth with an 11.6 to finish sixth in the average at 22.5 seconds. Taylor-Roukema picked up 30 points in the short and 10 points in the average which added 40 points to the men's team score.
Freshman Gunnar Tipton recorded an 11.1 in the tie down roping's Long Round to tie for fourth. He bobbled his rope in the Short Round but made a great recovery to post a 7th place 24.1 second finish. Tipton was seventh in the average and earned 25 points for his T-4 placement in the Long Round.
Bareback rider Triston Flinn ended the Long Round T-9 with a score of 70. In the Short round, Flinn scored a 74 to finish T-7. He was 9th in the average with 144 points.
"We sent a few guys to the short round this weekend," NMJC men's rodeo head coach Stewy Kinley said. "It was good to break the ice for some of these guys and having Cord Smith and Louk Thomas win 2nd in the team roping was really cool. They did a great job. Triston Flinn did a good job in a tough set of bareback riders and sophomore Teagan Roukema made it back in the team roping and got some points. Freshman Gunnar Tipton also got some points in the long round of the tie-down."
The Thunderbirds are in eighth place in the Caprock Region standings with 40 points. Coach Kinley believes the T-Birds left a lot of chicken on the bone this week in Portales.
"Overall, though, we made a lot of mistakes. We should've had a lot more guys in the Short Round," Coach Kinley said. "We can't afford to fall behind this early in the season. I have no doubt they'll be fired up and ready to do a better job this weekend in Canadian. The dynamics of our region have changed a lot. Not necessarily in the roughstock but in the timed events it sure has. We have a talented group, and we'll figure out what it takes to win."
Women's Team
Ashley Weber led the points team for the T-Birds this weekend. The sophomore was sixth in the breakaway roping after posting 3.0 time to earn 10 points. She was a no time in the Short Round and finished in seventh in the average.
Weber recorded a T-6 in the goat tying with an 8.8 second run and then a 9th place finish in the short go for an average of T-9. Weber received 3.3 points via her Long Round performance for a total of 13.3 points toward the women's team total.
Maysa Schiffner finished sixth in the Long Round of the team roping to earn 10 points with a time of 9.4 seconds. She was a no time in the Short Round, although she did rope the steer as the header, but the heeler was unable to complete the process.
Schiffner also made it to the Short Round in the goat tying after a 9th place run of 9.0 in the Long Round. She placed fourth in the short go with an 8.7 second run and also placed fourth with a 17.7 in the average. The freshman picked up 30 points in the short go and 30 points in the average for a total of 60 points in the goat tying.
"We had a fair weekend, but we know that this team is capable of more," NMJC women's rodeo head coach Alexa Wilcox said. "I was proud of freshman Maysa Schiffner for taking care of business in all of her events and making it back in two. That's a big feat for a freshman's first college rodeo."
Sophomore Kadey Urbantke roped well in the breakaway Long Round with a time of 2.6 seconds to finish fourth and grab 30 points. Urbantke was aggressive in the Short Round but was unable to rope the calf causing her a no time. In the average, she received 10 points and had a total of 40 for the rodeo.
"Sophomores Ashley Weber and Kadey Urbantke are no strangers to the Short Rounds and scored sharp all weekend, just had some bad luck Saturday night," Coach Wilcox said. "I expect them to clean that up in Canadian. A lot of our other team members were getting the dust knocked off and we have some ideas on minor corrections to make for this coming rodeo. Coach Miller and I are excited to see the rest of the team step up and do what they know how to do."
The women are eighth in the Caprock Region standings with 13.3 points.
The Thunderbirds next rodeo will take place Sept. 25-27 at the Frank Phillips College Rodeo in Canadian, Texas.
