LEVELLAND — The South Plains College men's and women's rodeo teams are slated to return to action this weekend in Lubbock at the Texas Tech University Rodeo at the South Plains Fairgrounds Oct. 31 – Nov. 2.
The Lady Texans come in sitting atop the Southwest Region with 660 points after four rodeos and hold a 15 point lead over defending region champion Tarleton State, who is currently second with 645 points. Texas Tech sits in the third with 625 points, followed by Sul Ross State with 462.50 points, and Eastern New Mexico University with 340 points.
Sophomore Kaytlyn Miller, the defending Southwest Region Women's All-Around Champion has been the top point scorer for the Lady Texans this season, racking up 270 points in goat tying which is second-best in the region to date behind Sul Ross' Timmi Hutchings who has tallied 277.5 points.
The Lady Texans have garnered 240 points in barrel racing thanks to Clara Barrington and Carly Christian who both rank in the top 15 in the region. Barrington is currently seventh with 140 points, while Christian is 11th with 100 points. Barrington also ranks 12th in breakaway roping, posting 95 points after four rodeos.
Sophomore Elle Eagles ranks in the top 15 in the region in both breakaway roping and goat tying, totaling 170 points for South Plains. Eagles is currently seventh in the region in breakaway roping with 110 points, and 14th in the region in goat tying with 60 points.
The Texans come in eighth in the region in the team standings with 665 points. Clay Guthrie is second in the region in steer wrestling with 290, while Britton Bedke is fourth with 235 points. South Plains' Stefan Ramone is eighth in the region with 110 points in team roping (header), while Hayden Cloward is 13th with 80 points. The Texans Daryan Dominguez comes in fourth in the region in team roping (heeler) with 180 points with six rodeos remaining.
In their previous outing at Frank Phillips, the Lady Texans picked up their first team title of the season, posting the top point total with 245 points. Texas Tech finished second in the women's division with 180 points, followed by Tarleton State who placed third with 155 points. On the men's side, the Texans capped the Frank Phillips College Rodeo with a fourth-place team finish with 300 points. Tarleton State won the men's division with 610 points, followed by Sul Ross with 405 points, and Western Texas College with 340 points.
Sophomore Kaytlyn Miller garnered 100 points for the Lady Texans in goat tying with a fourth-place overall finish. Miller turned in a time of 7.1 in the long round and an 8.0 in the short round to end the event with a 15.1 average. South Plains' Elle Eagles placed seventh in goat tying, running a 7.7 in the long round and an 8.3 in the finals to finish with a 16.0 average.
In the barrel racing event, Carly Christian brought home a fourth-place overall finish for the Lady Texans, running a 17.93 in the long round and an 18.4 in the short round to cap the event with a 36.33 average and 100 points. In the breakaway roping event, Aubryn Bedke racked up 70 individual points with a fourth-place finish, clocking a 2.9 in the long round and a 3.1 in the finals to finish with a 6.0 average. Eagles tacked on another 45 points of the Lady Texans with a seventh-place finish in breakaway roping, running a 2.6 in the long round but no timed in the finals to finish with a 102.6 average.
The Texans took the top two spots in steer wrestling as Clay Guthrie took first overall, while Britton Bedke finished second for the orange and blue. Guthrie used a 4.9 in the long round and a 4.0 in the short round to finish with an 8.9 average and 150 points. Bedke turned in a 4.3 in the long round followed by a 4.9 in the finals to finish with a 9.2 average and 150 points.
The Texans qualified four for the team roping finals, including Rex Foust who paired up with Caden Beatty of New Mexico JC to earn a fifth-place overall finish. The duo ran a 7.5 in the long round and a 12.0 in the finals to finish with a 19.5 average and 70 individual points.
Hayden and Hadley Cloward placed sixth in team roping, running a 7.6 in the long round followed by a 12.5 in the finals to end the event with a 20.1 average. South Plains' Stefan Ramone teamed up with Tee McLeod of Eastern New Mexico University to earn a ninth-place finish, clocking an 8.3 in the long round before a no time in the finals, capping the event with a 108.3 average.