The Chadron State College had no overall winners last weekend at the Colorado State University rodeo in Fort Collins, but had more contestants make the finals and place in the standings than at the two previous rodeos in the Central Rocky Mountain Region this spring.
Chadron State’s highest placer was Parker Johnston of Maywood, Neb. He won the long go-round of the bull riding with a 74-point ride, was bucked off in the finals, but still finished second in the overall standings. Chris McKenna of Otero College stayed aboard both of the bulls to win the event. Four contestants besides Johnston, rode one bull. Since his single score was the highest, Johnston claimed the second place check.
CSC senior Tiegan Marchant of Newcastle, Wyo., had won the steer wrestling at both the Gillette College and Eastern Wyoming College rodeos the past two weeks. He got off to a strong start at Colorado State, flipping his steer in 5.4 seconds to tie for second and third. But Marchant’s second steer was a fast one, and it took a while to catch the critter. His time of 12.0 seconds put him fifth in the final standings.
Marchant had moved into the region’s steer wrestling lead with his quick work the past two weeks, but he is now second in those standings with 455 points. The new leader is Austin Hurlburt of the University of Wyoming with 480 points after he was the runner-up at CSU.
Johnston also made the steer wrestling finals after finishing the first go-round in 8.1 seconds, but he took a no time in the finals.
Another Chadron State cowboy, Tanner McInerney of Hulett, Wyo., caught and tied his first calf in the tie down roping in 10.3 seconds, but didn’t catch the second calf.
Sierra Lee, whose address is Rhame, N.D., but is a graduate of Harding County High School at Buffalo, S.D., finished sixth among the 91 entries in barrel racing with runs of 15.81 and 16.07 seconds. She also caught her first breakaway roping calf in 2.8 seconds to share a three-way tie for second place. However, she didn’t make the second loop fit and had to settle for seventh place overall.
There are two more rodeos in the region this spring. The first will be this weekend at Casper College and the final one will be April 22-24 at the University of Wyoming.