ODESSA — The South Plains College men's and women's rodeo teams opened their first rodeo of the spring semester in prime fashion over the weekend, as the Texans placed first overall and the Lady Texans took second at the 35th Annual Odessa College Rodeo at the Ector County Coliseum.

The Texans racked up 585 points to move into second place in the Southwest Region with 1930 points on the year, trailing only Clarendon College who has garnered 2270 points after six rodeos. The Lady Texans tallied 295 points in Odessa and currently sit in third in the region with 1167.5 points with four rodeos remaining.

"Both teams have been practicing extremely hard and putting in the time it takes to be successful, and it paid off this weekend in the arena," South Plains head coach Kerry Doster said. "It's good to make a move in the standings at this point in the season, but we have tough teams around us on both the men's and women's sides and it's going to be a fight all the way to the end. Every year you have to have teams that are consistent and stay in the hunt, and hopefully, we can continue to have some success and give ourselves a chance at the end of the year."

Hayden and Hadley Cloward combined for 360 points in the team roping event, as the duo placed first overall with an 11.4 average. The Clowards ran the fastest time in the long round with a 5.7, which they followed up with a 5.7 in the finals to take the top spot. South Plains' Grady Quam picked up 100 points in team roping, pairing up with Cisco's Paden Bray. The pair ran a 6.0 in the long round and a 15.5 in the finals, capping the event with a 21.5 average.

Britton Bedke tacked on 125 points for the Texans in steer wrestling, placing second on the weekend. Bedke clocked a 4.1 in the long round and a 5.1 in the finals, ending with a 9.2 average. Jesse Kindt also represented South Plains in the steer wrestling finals, taking sixth overall with a 104.5 average. Kindt turned in a 4.5 in the long round before missing in the finals, tallying 35 points overall.

Delaney Kunau was the top point getter for the Lady Texans, placing second overall in breakaway roping. Kunau ran a 2.3 in the long round and a 2.9 in the finals, ending the event with a 5.20 average and 145 points. The Lady Texans picked up another second place overall finish in barrel racing as Elle Eagles racked up 125 points for South Plains. Eagles turned in a 14.45 in the long round and a 14.21 in the finals to cap the event with a 28.66 average.

The Lady Texans placed a pair of cowgirls in the goat tying finals, as Shaylynne Reymore placed fourth overall, while Kaytlyn Miller took ninth. Reymore garnered 75 points after running a 6.9 in the long round and a 6.9 in the finals, finishing with a 13.8 average. Miller tacked on 25 points for South Plains, running a 6.9 in the long round and a 100 in the finals, ending with a 107.2 average.

South Plains will return to the arena March 22-24 at the Ranger College Rodeo in Sweetwater before traveling to Snyder April 5-7 for the Western Texas College Rodeo.