Closing out the grandstands

A first-place finish in Fort Collins helped CSC cowboy Miles Englebert, of Burdock, South Dakota, solidify his place among the region’s top collegiate bull riders, and two CSC teammates, Kalane Anders, of Bayard, and Quincy Segelke, of Snyder, Colorado, joined Englebert as winners of their events. 

Englebert used a first-place performance to put distance between himself and Central Rocky Mountain Region’s fourth-ranked bull rider Kenneth Thomson of Casper College. Englebert, who sits in the final spot to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in June, now has a 360 point lead over Thomson with two rodeos remaining in the season. 

The win also moves him within 20 points of second-ranked bull rider Nate Hoey of Lamar Community College. 

“It was a good one for me,” Englebert said of the win. “I haven’t had much luck the last two years I’ve been to Fort Collins so it was good to get something accomplished down there.”

All four bull riders in Fort Collins scored point in the long go, led by Englebert, but Thomson earned just one point fewer in the go. Englebert said he knew if he wanted to put some distance between himself and Thomson he’d need a to make a good ride in the short go. 

Unfortunately for Englebert he fell short of the eight-second ride in the short go, but so then did all the other cowboys in the go, leaving him in first place. 

“Everyone drew pretty good (in the short go),” Englebert said, “we kind of all just messed up ourselves. We all drew (bulls) we should have rode.”

Should Englebert hold on to third place in the regional standings he’ll make his first appearance at Nationals. 

In the steer wrestling event, Anders entered the short go tied with a third-best time of 5.3 seconds, but caught his steer in just 4.7 seconds in the short go, the second-best time recorded at the rodeo. His average of 10 seconds earned him the win, his first of the spring season. 

“I haven’t had quite the spring I wanted to until this weekend,” Anders said. 

The senior cowboy hopes his performance, which he called “a really good run on a really good steer,” built him some momentum he can carry into the final two rodeos of the season. 

Anders sits in second place of steer wrestling in the Central Rocky Mountain Region standings, just 25 points ahead of fourth-place Kade Greer of the University of Wyoming and just 25 points behind Greer’s teammate Ty Everson. 

In break away, cowgirl Quincy Segelke, junior of Snyder, Colorado,  caught her first steer in 3 seconds in long go and 2.8 seconds in the short go to average 5.8 seconds, about a full second faster than the average of second-place finisher Brooke Glass of Eastern Wyoming College. 

Segelke is currently on the outside looking in on the regional standings, eight points behind teammate Hanna Hostutler who occupies fifth place. 

The Eagles’ next rodeo, their second to last of the season, takes place in Casper College beginning Friday, April 19. They’ll close out the season the following weekend at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.