Rodeo team coach Dustin Luper is optimistic for the Chadron State College rodeo team. With a number of cowboys and cowgirls on the CSC rodeo team being ranked regionally, it seems likely that they’ll add up another string of top 10 placer-holders to their spring season and opportunities for filling slots for nationals.
According to Luper, the women’s team needs just shy of 600 points to make it to nationals.
“We have three rodeos left, and that’s a lot of time and opportunities for us to rack up enough points. I keep telling them ‘the fat lady hasn’t even begun to sing yet’.”
Looking at the team’s stellar performance at the CSU rodeo, it’s easy to understand Luper’s optimism. The Eagles moved on from the Friday and Saturday go-rounds into the finals on Sunday with sixteen entries placing within the top 10.
Senior Kelsey Scott of Douglas, Wyo., won two events en route to capturing the all-around cowgirl title and securing a win for the women’s team. At the end of the first go-round in breakaway roping, Scott was in a three-way tie for last, posting a run of 3.5 seconds at the end of the first go-round. But she bounced back in the second round, posting a 2.5-second run that earned her the title.
Her second win came in team roping. She and her partner Matt Schieck of Sheridan College posted times of 6.5 seconds and 7.2 seconds in the first and second go-rounds respectively, winning each and capturing the average.
Sophomore Russel Hipke of Stuart won the steer wrestling event, finishing sixth in the first go-round with a 5.5-second run, and first in the final round with a 5.3-second run to win the average.
After the first go, two CSC cowboys, Tyrell Bonnet of Newell, S.D., and Clint Lambrecht of Wood River, posted the two fastest times in the steer wrestling event, but each cowboy posted no times in the final round. Bonnet led the first go, tossing his steer in 3.9 seconds. Lambrecht finished in second place, a half-second behind Bonnet, tossing his draw in 4.4 seconds.
Broken Bow freshman Katie Loughran had a good day. She made a poor run in the first go, then posted the event’s fastest run, finished second in the average, and placed in her first college rodeo.
After a 14.51-second trip around the cloverleaf in the first go, she shaved nearly half-a-second off her time in the second round, posting a 14.03-second run that earned her second place.
Senior Kaylee Gallino of Wasta, S.D., who took first in the Gillette rodeo two weeks ago, also placed in barrels, taking first in her the opening go-round with 14.20 seconds, and fourth in finals in 14.53 seconds, to finish third overall.
Heading into Easter weekend the CSC rodeo team will hit the trail to Torrington, Wyo. for the Eastern Wyoming College rodeo from April 5-7.
Kaylee Gallino, 21, senior of Wasta, S.D., turns her second barrel and heads for the third. — Photo by Karisa Lamle
