Rodeo opens season
Friday the Chadron State Eagles’ rodeo team opens its season, the first as an official CSC varsity team, at home as it hosts its annual rodeo at the Dawes County Fairgrounds.
14 colleges and universities will be involved in the rodeo which begins Friday afternoon with slack at 1 p.m. and official goes at 7 p.m.
Competition will continue through Saturday with the short go at 10 a.m. Sunday.
Heading into his 11th year coaching, Head Coach Dustin Luper is looking forward to getting started.
“I’m pretty excited,” Luper said when speaking with The Eagle earlier this offseason. “We’ve won the men’s side, and won second on the women’s side about three times, but I’ve never had a men’s and women’s team that’s won at the same time so I’m excited I could do that this year.”
Although the men’s team graduated several seniors last year, cowboys Rowdy Moon, of Sargent, and Kalane Anders, of Bayard, who represented the Eagles at the College National Finals Rodeo last season, return as leaders of the group, and Luper says he’s got a couple of strong sophomore additions as well.
“I’m looking for (Moon and Anders) to step up because they know the program already, and they’re pretty good team leaders,” Luper said.
Moon returns to CSC as the team’s most successful cowboy at the CNFR last season though he ultimately missed the bareback championship go by 24 points.
Anders will look to enter the season improved after his National Finals steer wrestling appearance ended with him having failed to record a score in three runs.
Since then Anders has been successful in summer rodeos, emerging as the winning steer wrestler in six Colorado appearances.
The sophomore additions Luper mentions are cowboys Kyle Bloomquist, a bareback rider from Raymond, Minnesota, and Garrett Uptain, a saddle bronc and bull rider from Craig, Colorado.
According to Luper Bloomquist competed at the CNFR in June while Uptain won novice bronc riding at this year’s Calgary Stampede, Alberta, Canada.
The women’s side also has its share of talented cowgirls including barrel-racing and breakaway roping newcomers Quincy Segelke, of Snyder, Colorado, and Kaycee Monnens, of Hulett, Wyoming.
Segelke, who also competes in team roping and goat tying, comes via Gillette College and competed at last year’s CNFR short-round. Luper says she’s also a regional all-around winner.
Monnens, who Luper call a huge threat and a great athlete, comes via Casper.
The two join a group of other capable cowgirls to form a women’s team that should compete well.
“Honestly I have as strong a women’s program this year as I’ve ever had,” Luper said. “And my men’s team, if we do everything right, we should be in contention for a regional title pretty easy.”