The 51st annual UTM Rodeo kicked off its whirlwind weekend Thursday, April 11, in the Ned Ray McWherter Agricultural Complex.
UTM started by quickly dominating the bareback riding competition with rider Hunter Green solidifying 76 points.
Green, a junior Communications major from Bastrop, Louisiana, is in second place overall in the conference, for this competition, with a total of 960.0 points for the 2018-19 season.
UTM’s Ross Mitchell, a junior Farm and Ranch Management major from Bolivar, took the win in Steer Wrestling with an impressive takedown in just 6.1 seconds.
Skyhawk Cowgirl and current position four in Barrel Racing for the conference, Casey Allen, took home the number one spot Thursday night with an impressive run of 13.88 seconds without knocking a barrel over.
Allen is a junior Marketing major from Vandergrift, Pennsylvania.
While the first night of the competition may have seen many no-scores and no-times, the energy in the room could not be denied.
The UTM rodeo team is currently in second and third for the region with the men’s and women’s teams respectively. The general murmurs of the athletes show a hopeful nature that this year will be a rodeo to remember and allows for the personal growth of the team as people and athletes.
The competition for the three-day rodeo will be between members of the Ozark Region which includes Missouri Valley College, UTM, Southern Arkansas University, University of West Alabama, Murray State University, Pearl River Community College, University of Arkansas-Monticello, East Mississippi Community College, Northwest Mississippi Community College and Three Rivers College.
The UTM Rodeo team is dedicating the 51st rodeo to their teammate, Wyatt Cole who died in a car wreck in February.
Thursday night, during the introduction of the team, they took the time to salute Cole and brought his horse to the arena to honor him.
Each night, the UTM rodeo team will be selling bracelets in order to raise money for the Wyatt Cole Memorial Scholarship Fund.
During Friday night’s rodeo, they will be remembering him in a special ceremony.
Friday and Saturday the competition can only continue to grow in momentum as well as activities for the audience members.
