By Mary Hart, USU Eastern Sports Information Contributor
The USU Eastern rodeo team hosted its annual rodeo last weekend. The weather held out and it was a beautiful weekend. The team played host to nine schools from the Rocky Mountain region.
The men’s team had another great weekend. Bowdie Jacobson won the long round in the tie down roping and finished fifth in the average. Kale Lamb and his team roping partner Zack Ekstrom from Idaho State University placed third in the long round and second in the short round and ended up second in the average.
Clayson Hutchings was fifth in the long round in the saddle bronc riding and ended up fifth in the average while Scott Lauaki won the long round in the saddle bronc riding and second in the short round and won the average. Clayson and Scott are sitting second and third, respectively, in the region.
Austin Allred continued his hot streak, winning the bull riding long round and winning second in the average. Allred is sitting in first place in the region in bull riding and in the top five in the nation. This puts the men’s team solidly in second place in the region after the fall season.
The women’s team was led by Autumn Snyder. She placed third in the first round and ended up third in the average in the barrel racing. This puts her in the top ten in the region and within striking distance of a qualifying position for the College National Finals rodeo (CNFR).
The top two teams in each of the 13 regions qualify for the CNFR in Casper, Wyo. in June. The top three competitors in each event also qualify for the CNFR.
“I am proud of our team for not only competing well over the weekend, but for putting on a great rodeo. We would also like to thank Scott Madsen and the USU Eastern athletic department staff and athletes for helping us put on our rodeo. It is so awesome to be part of a such a great organization, the support that they show for all of the teams is amazing,” said head coach Monte Jensen. “We would also like to thank our great community and the many volunteers that helped us put on our rodeo. We could not do it without them.”
Photos by Jeff Barrett
