Cowboys rope in strong places

The Eagles team up for strong place finishes at their final regular season rodeo hosted by the University of Wyoming in Laramie over the weekend.

Tanner McInerney, senior of Alzada, Montana finished third in both tie-down roping and team roping.

“I was really happy to end my season on a good note like that,” McInerney said. “I felt like I did my job and drew good and that’s all you can control.”

He took third and kept it in tie down after his long go-round at 10.2 seconds to make it to Sunday finals, where he roped in a time of 10.5 seconds, averaging 20.7.

McInerney teamed up with his usual partner from Casper College, Nevada Berquist, junior of Watford City, North Dakota, averaged 15.3 seconds after their short go-round at 9.0 seconds. The duo finished first after their run in the long go-round at 6.3 seconds.

Tanner Whetham, sophomore of Morrill, also found some success in the roping events. In the tie-down, he was sitting sixth after the first go-round at 10.9 seconds. He wasn’t able to rope in his steer in finals, dropping him to seventh with an average of 110.9 seconds.

Whetham took fourth in the team roping with Camerson Jensen, junior from the University of Wyoming, at an average of 15.8 seconds. After the long go-round, the two were placed second at 6.9 seconds, but in their short go, they were timed at 8.9.

Seth Shorb, senior of Hermosa, South Dakota, and Eastern Wyoming College’s Karissa Rayhill, sophomore of Martin, South Dakota, took ninth in the long go-round with a 11.8-second run. They roped in a 19.3-second time in the short go-round but with other teams not roping their steer, the duo finished fifth with an average of 31.1 seconds.

“I thought the team did well, have three different guys in the team roping and two in the calf roping,” McInerney said.

Chadron State men’s rodeo team is currently ranked seventh of 14 teams at 1,420 points.

The women’s team didn’t see as much success. Sierra Lee, junior of Rhame, North Dakota, was the only cowgirl to make it to the short go-round in an event.

Lee finished seventh in barrel racing after her first run at 14.73, taking her to finals. In her short go-round, she finished at 25.8 seconds, moving her down to tenth place with a 40.53-second average.

CSC women’s rodeo team holds 445 points, ranking it eighth of 14 teams.

No members of the rodeo team finished in the region’s top three in any of the events at the end of the regular season, and none will make their way to nationals in June.