Rodeo Teams Finish Regular Seasons at Northwest Mississippi
Senatobia, Miss. (May 1, 2023)- The Missouri Valley College rodeo programs finished their regular season competitions at the Northwest Mississippi rodeo over the weekend. Both teams placed third in the standings. The men's team also captured a seventh-straight Ozark Region championship, while the women's team was reserve champions in the region.
In bareback riding, four Viking cowboys finished in the top five of the average. Freshman Kooper Heimburg (San Tan Valley, Ariz.) finished with a 163 in the average to take first overall. He tied for first in the first go-round with a 79, and won the second go-round with an 84. He collected 175 points. Second in the average was Freshman Hayden Leavell (Ozark, Ark.) with a 150. He tied for first place in the first go-round with a 79, and was third in the second go-round with a 71. He collected 145 points. Junior Colt Eck (Redfield, Kan.) was fourth in the average with a 142. He finished second in the second go-round with a 76, and collected 95 points. Junior Grant Worthington (Helper, Kan.) was fifth in the average with a 129 to collect 45 points.
Eck finished second in the saddle bronc riding average, after taking a 44 in the first go-round. He earned 100 points. Junior Tyler Freeman (Cadiz, Ky.) won the second go-round of saddle bronc riding with a 63, and earned 60 points.
Also for the men's team, Senior Easton Kirby (Lancaster, Iowa) finished fourth in the calf roping with a 32.4 to earn 60 points and Freshman Chase Applewhite (Heber Springs, Ark.) finished third in the first go-round of steer wrestling with a 4.9 to earn 50 points. Applewhite and Kerby also finished fifth in the team roping average with a 20.9 to earn 40 points. The team of Freshman Maggie Stewart (Sheridan, Ill.) and Eck placed fifth in the first go-round of team roping with a 7.7 to earn 20 points.
On the women's side, Junior Betsy Roemer (Jonesboro, Ark.) was third in the goat tying average with a 14.0. She won the second go-round with a 6.9, and earned 110 points. Also in goat tying, Senior Taylor Mason (Marshall, Mo.) finished second in the first go-round with a 6.6 to earn 50 points, Senior Lakin Cunningham (Lewisburg, Kan.) was fourth in the first go-round with a 7.0 to earn 30 points, and Sophomore Kenlie Raby (Mt. Vernon, Ark.) was fifth in the second go-round with a 7.5 to earn five points. Freshman Josie Potter (Neosho, Mo.) finished tied for fourth in the barrel racing average with a 28.88, which included a second place finish in the second go-round with a 14.37. She earned 75 points.
The men's team finished third in the standings with a total of 615 points. East Mississippi was first overall with 985 points, followed by Tennessee-Martin with 715 points. The women's team was third in the standings with 195 points. West Alabama won the women's rodeo with 565 points, and Pearl River (Miss.) was second with 375 points.
Official end-of-season standings in the Ozark Region will be released this week. The Missouri Valley men's rodeo team has captured a seventh-straight Ozark Region championship, and the women's team finished as the reserve champion in the region. Both will qualify as teams into the 2023 College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., June 11-17.
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Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 40 academic programs, study abroad program, honors program, extracurricular activities, and 13 sports. The most popular majors include education and business, and some new majors are ag-business, nursing, graphic design, and health information systems (associate degree). Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.