Saturday, May 5, 2007

NMSU has championship team

El Defensor Chieftain Reports

The New Mexico State University men's and women's rodeo teams are National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Grand Canyon Region champions after hosting the final rodeo of the season this past weekend, April 28-29.

"We finished first in the region, and that's what our goal was," said Jim Brown, NMSU rodeo coach.

NMSU athletes finished well in the region individually; in fact, they were in the top three in every event.

Brooklynn Chester, of Carlsbad, was second-place overall breakaway roper in the region.

In the winning the tie-down event, Santa Fe native Clay Acuna placed second and Wacey Walraven, of Datil, placed third overall in the region.

NMSU's Jared Nicholson, of Bosque Farms, placed third overall in steer wrestling.

Chance Means, of Cliff, and partner Matt Garza, of Mesquite, are the top team ropers in the region and JoDan Mirabal, of Grants, and Aaron Shelley, of Gila, placed third.

Dean Daly, of Belen, placed second in the region in the saddle bronc scores.

Chad Steele, of Alamo, Nev., and Daren Albrecht, of Veyo, Utah, placed second and third overall in the bull riding standings for the region.

NMSU's cowboys and cowgirls not only dominated the regional scores, they had an outstanding competition in their final rodeo of the season, much to the delight of NMSU rodeo fans who turned out to cheer them on.

The men's team placed second overall at the contest, missing the winner's circle by the slender margin of 45 points. The men's team from Cochise College, in Ft. Huachuca, Ariz., won the event. The NMSU women's team won first place.

Bailey Gow, of Roseburg, Ore., was all-around cowgirl for the event.

Tori Bilberry, of Elida, shared the top spot in breakaway roping.

Gow placed first overall in the barrel racing with teammates Staci Stanbrough, of Capitan, and Brittany Striegel, of Aztec, coming in at second and third.

Ty Winterton, of Gilbert, Ariz., was the No. 1 tie-down roper this weekend, the cowboy's first top three showing of the season.

Nicholson was the overall champion steer wrestler, helping secure his spot in the regional standings.

Currently, both NMSU rodeo teams are ranked first in the nation, but not every region has finished the rodeo season yet.

NMSU will send 15 competitors to the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., on June 10-16.

"We'll have great representation at the finals. Hopefully, we can keep our momentum going," Brown said.

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