CASPER, WY – Friday night was the final night with Laramie County Community College represented at the College National Finals Rodeo with juniors Chance Derner and Payton Feyder taking the arena floor for the Golden Eagles in tie down and breakaway respectively.

The pair was out of the running for the short go on Saturday but were going for broke to try and pick up team points for LCCC in their events.

Derner gave it is best effort of the week in tie down with a 9.7 and while he finished just on the outside of the top ten in the round, he said he was happy with his effort to close out his first experience in Casper as a competitor.

“I was happy with the way it went,” he said. “They tied that calf in ten flat and 10.2 and Seth and I talked and he said just give it your all. It’s your last run and you have nothing to prove.”

“Chance came out and ended with a bang,” Head Coach Seth Glause added. “Look for him to be back here next year and competing for a national title.”

The junior added that the week opened his eyes more to what his mindset needs to be moving forward in his career in rodeo.

“It’s just one calf and you give it your all,” Derner said. “That’s what my mentality will be on for the rest of them, even the college rodeo’s, even the regular season. Just one calf at a time and go as hard as you can every calf.”

Feyder was snakebit for the second time in the rodeo in breakaway with her loop just slipping around the crown of the calf’s head for her second no time of the rodeo.

“I firmly believe in God’s timing,” the junior said. “It’s not my time this week but I am hungry to come back. I’m going to go home and put my rope can away for a couple days and go to the All-Girl and go to some rodeo’s this summer and try to get some more runs at rodeos on my horses and get it figured out so when I come back next year I’ll be more competitive.”

“She came out and knew she had to win the round, kinda reached a little bit and it just didn’t work, but that’s what happens when you are in that situation,” Glause said.

Despite only being able to catch one calf, Feyder said she still enjoyed the opportunity to represent herself and her school.

“This event is really great,” she said. “I didn’t have things go my way but I’m still super thankful for the opportunity to be here.”

Both Derner and Feyder are currently planning on returning to LCCC for their senior seasons and the lessons they learned are something they said will help to carry them through a summer of rodeos.

As the week wound down for LCCC, Glause said he couldn’t have asked for more from the effort his team gave.

“I’m very proud of them,” he said. “The students came out and performed well, gave a winning effort every night.”

The Golden Eagles will not see any athletes in Saturday’s final but still qualified the most athletes for the CNFR since Glause took over the program. Five of the six qualifiers to this years CNFR will have the chance to return next season for LCCC giving the team a lot of veteran’s in the stable for the 2023-24 season.