By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information
POPLARVILLE, Miss. – Both University of Tennessee at Martin rodeo teams brought home top-four finishes after a successful weekend at Pearl River Community College.
The Skyhawk women’s squad compiled 220 points, finishing in second place behind West Alabama (482 points). It marked their second-best performance of the season, trailing only the season-opening victory at Missouri Valley College on Sept. 23-25. On the men’s side, UT Martin tallied 475 points to place fourth in the standings behind Missouri Valley (820), East Mississippi (560) and Three Rivers (520).
In calf roping, Cole Walker’s hot start led to points in all three phases. The junior out of Sparta, Tenn. accounted for the best time (9.4) in the opening go before placing fourth in average (21.4) and sixth in the second round (12.0). Will McCraw also posted points in the event, finishing third in the short go (10.8) and sixth in average (22.4).
Grace Bryant and Kailey Schmidt each provided points for the Skyhawks in breakaway roping. Bryant’s time of 2.3 seconds in the first round was the top performance while Schmidt accrued points with a 4.9 in the short go (fifth place) and a 7.9 average (split fifth).
Senior Jack Smithson was responsible for a remarkable effort in saddle bronc riding. He split first in the short round with 76 points while finishing second in both average (154) and in the opening go (78).
A pair of UT Martin cowboys registered points in steer wrestling. Jesse Keysaer’s 5.0 seconds flat in the short round was the best time in the field. He additionally finished third in average (11.3) and split third in the opening round (6.3) – tying with teammate Cole Harmon.
Emma Kate Wilder performed extremely well in goat tying, splitting first in the short go with a time of 7.0 seconds. The freshman from Millington, Tenn. finished third with a 14.8 average and fourth with a time of 7.8 seconds in the opening round.
UT Martin will step away from official competition next week before hosting the 54th Annual Spring College Rodeo at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Pavilion on April 7-9.
Graphic courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information