LAMAR, CO – The Laramie County Community College rodeo team picked up several impressive performances in the final rodeo of the fall season as the men's team finished in fifth while the women took home second keeping both in the hunt for a top two finish in the Central Rocky Mountain Region when the season resumes in the spring.
Individually, Dixon Tattrie was on top of his game in saddle bronc, finishing with a split for the top spot in the average after a pair of 77-point rides over the weekend. He was able to tally 135 points which moved him to third place in the CRMR standings in the event.
Tattrie is also sitting in third place in bull riding after the first half with Gage Hillis and Griffin Koester hot on his heels with both just 20 points behind in a three-way tie for fifth.
"Dixon is very talented, and he is showing what he is made of," Head Coach Dean Finnerty said. "He grits up each week and makes good rides in both of his events and it's been fun to watch him."
Speaking of Hillis, the freshman finished with his first ride of the season in the long go to pick up 76 points which tied him for second in both the go and in the average.
"It definitely felt good getting some points going into the spring," Hillis said. "I'm working on consistency. I'm riding lots of practice bulls, but I need to keep carrying it into the weekend."
The Golden Eagles saw another strong weekend in steer wrestling where Thayne Kimbrough picked up a second-place finish in the average. He was tied for eighth after the long go and used a 4.9 in the short go to surge up the leaderboard for a 10.5 for the rodeo. His 4.9 was the second fastest of the go and was one of the fastest of the rodeo.
"All year I've been drawing pretty bad and been one of the first ones out, so it definitely helped that I was at the bottom this time and knew what the cattle were going to do," Kimbrough said. "I have a lot of catching up to do in the spring season, but I can do it if I make it like (Lamar)."
The title for fastest of the rodeo went to another Golden Eagle. Tucker Ravenscroft was 3.7 on his first steer to win the long go and his 7.3 in the short go was enough to put him in third place in the average, giving him 115 points in the regional standings.
"Going out there and winning the fastest time by almost a second really boosts my confidence," the Ravenscroft said. "Our region has a bunch of good bulldoggers, and you never know who is going to win the next rodeo, so it makes it a lot of fun."
That's back-to-back weekend of strong performances for Ravenscroft and the sophomore moved up to second in the CRMR standings at the midway point. Steer wrestling will be one of the big races to watch coming down the stretch where only 105 points separates 15th place from the second-place spot in the standings and six Golden Eagles sit in the top 20.
"There's so many people doing well it's hard to choose a team every week," Finnerty said. "I've been wrong more than I've been right but it's fun to watch and they've done well so it's good to see."
On the women's side, Rayne Grant was a shining star in barrel racing where she swept the rodeo thanks to a 17.34 in the long go and a 17.54 in the short go. The 180-point weekend surged the sophomore from Wheatland, Wyoming to second in the CRMR standings and just 25 points out of the top spot. She has now picked up points in barrels in three of the five rodeos this season.
"To sweep both rounds and the average is amazing. You don't see that happen to often in the barrel racing so it's pretty cool that she is that talented and rides that good of a horse," Finnerty said.
Wacey Day also added 90 team points to the women's score with another strong weekend in goat tying. The junior transfer was fourth in the long go and fourth in the short go for a total time of 15.6 in the average which was enough for a three-way tie for third.
Kassidy Dunagan also made it back in goats after tying for fifth in the long go, but just missed out on points in the short go and the average, finishing in eighth in both. Dunagan added another 10 points in breakaway where she finished in sixth in the short go and the average.
Ahead of her was Day, who took fifth in the average with a 2.8 in the long go and a 4.4 in the short go to add another 75 points. The pair finished behind senior Amy Shuckburgh who took sixth in the long go and fourth in the short go and the average with a 7.0 on a pair.
Breakaway will be another fun race to watch in the spring where the Golden Eagles have four competitors in the top 20 and seven total who have picked up points.
The success of the women's team was highlighted by both Day and Dunagan finishing second and third in the all-around race respectively.
The men close out the fall season in fourth place in the region standings while the women are in third and only 70 points behind the University of Wyoming for second spot in the region.