POPLARVILLE, Miss. – The University of Tennessee at Martin men’s and women’s rodeo teams put on a good showing at Pearl River as each squad came away with second-place finishes over the weekend.
The Skyhawk men’s team accrued 455 points while the UT Martin cowgirls posted 215 points. It marked the fourth runner-up finish of the 2022-23 campaign for the Skyhawk women’s squad and the third top-two performance of the season on the men’s side.
Will McCraw was responsible for points in the calf roping event as the graduate from East Bend, NC split second with his time of 9.6 seconds in the opening round.
A trio of UT Martin cowgirls piled up points in breakaway roping. Brianna Pugh (2.3) displayed the best time in the first round as that time also carried over to finish sixth in average. Jasmin Bakri placed third in the short go with a time of 2.7 while also finishing fourth with a 5.8 average. Ali Covey split third in the opening round with a time of 2.6 seconds.
In saddle bronc riding, Jack Smithson’s 78 points in the short go was the best in the field as he was one of five cowboys to take part in the finals round of that event.
Logan Neal managed points in all three phases of steer wrestling, placing fifth in average (13.6), fifth in the short round (7.7) and sixth in the opening go (5.9).
Grace Bryant was a standout performer in goat tying as the junior out of Pendleton, SC split first with a 13.9 average after finishing second in the short go (6.9) and third in the opening round (7.0 flat).
McCraw and Cole Walker excelled in the team roping event as the duo swept second-place finishes across the board. The Skyhawk cowboys were clocked at 6.3 seconds in each of their first two performances for a 12.6 average.
The UT Martin women’s team final contributor in points was Savannah Moran. She placed fourth in the opening round (14.62) and fourth in the short go (14.68) on her way to a 29.3 average (fifth-place) in barrel racing.
The Skyhawks will take a week off from official competition before returning to action on April 6-8 at a rodeo hosted by Arkansas-Monticello.