CASPER, WY – The Laramie County Community College rodeo team wrapped up their stay in Casper with several names keeping themselves in the hunt for positions in the top three in the Central Rocky Mountain Region on Sunday morning at the Ropin' and Riggin' Days Rodeo hosted by Casper College.
The men's team finished with more than 400 points for the fourth time this season and the second time in the spring, paced by their bull riders who tallied 220 of the team's 405-point total. On the women's side, LCCC saw their lowest point total of the year with an 80-point rodeo, but still had plenty of activity in the short go where several younger athletes not on the points team had good performances.
Senior Payton Feyder, a fifth-year senior, said this is a team that has put in work and it showed in the season standings.
"This is probably the best women's teams I've been a part of. All of our sophomore girls have been super strong and have been top three at every rodeo so I'm super proud of them and can't wait to see what they do in years to come."
This was the first time all season the LCCC women finished loser than third in any rodeo.
Rough stock was the place to watch though where Dixon Tattrie and Griffin Koester were the only two riders to stay on in the first go for bull riding. Neither was able to stay on their bull in their second ride, but Tattrie's 69 was good for the second-best ride of the rodeo and netted the sophomore 120 points in the regional standings.
Koester being able to ride his first bull was the most important key to the rodeo, keeping him in the hunt for a spot in the top three bull riders with 110 points separating him from third place in the regional standings after none of the top three riders were able to stay on their bulls.
"It always feels good to get one rode and being up there to have a chance to qualify for the CNFR again is pretty cool," Koester said.
Gage Hillis helped LCCC go three for three for the first time this year by riding his second bull of the rodeo and gaining 40 points in the region standings and his 64 was the fourth best ride of the rodeo and the third best of the second round.
Other rough stock riders for LCCC also picked up points, but nothing significant.
Tattrie added 15 points to his total with a tie for fifth in the long go but didn't draw a great bronc in the short go and was only able to ride to a 64 to finish eighth in the rodeo.
In bareback, Tate Miller rode both of his broncs but his 142-point total left him with just five points after he tied with teammate Tanner Drueke in the short go with matching 73's for sixth place.
The low point total dropped Miller out of the hunt for a spot in the College National Finals Rodeo as he was bumped to sixth place in the region and is over 200 points behind third, but the freshman still had a strong season after scoring points in every rodeo but Lamar so far.
In tie down, Grey Gilbert was the only Golden Eagle to make it back and after being the last time in, his 9.9 in the short go earned the freshman third in the round and fourth in the rodeo to capture 70 points towards his regional standing. Gilbert moved up to 12th in the region going into the final week and has a good chance to finish in the top ten after his rookie campaign for the Golden Eagles.
"I've had a pretty good year but it still isn't up to my standards so I'm going to stay hungry through the end of it and come back and try to finish better next year," Gilbert said.
Only one Golden Eagle was back in steer wrestling and Gage Davis couldn't catch his second steer after having the third fastest time of the long go, but he was still able to net 40 points for his 4.7 and bumped up into the top ten in the region standings.
With 150 points separating him from third, he still has a chance to qualify for the CNRF although it is a bit of a long shot going into the final weekend in Laramie.
Three Golden Eagles are still in the hunt, including Dane Pokorny who is holding the third-place spot, along with Tucker Ravenscroft and Davis.
In team roping, Reece Wadhams and Rio Nutter from the University of Wyoming finished with the second fastest time in the long go but came up just shy of posting a time in the short go after missing the second loop and finished in sixth place in the average.
Wadhams did move back into second place in the region standings, but it is a tight race with eight teams still in the hunt for the top three spots.
On the women's side, Goat Tying saw the most success for the Golden Eagles where a pair of athletes finished in the top four. Makaylee Fischer was fifth going into the short go and her 7.7 was the third fastest time of the second go to help her finish in third place overall for 100 points.
"It felt pretty good," Fischer said. "I competed with the top and these girls are pretty good, and it felt good to be on top. I feel like there is a bright future ahead."
Kassidy Dunagan also had a good rodeo, finishing in sixth in the long go and fourth in the short go to move up to fourth in the average, picking up 70 points.
LCCC also brought two back in breakaway where Feyder ended a rough stretch by finishing third in the short go and the average for 80 points and Kaitlynn Idler was able to finish fifth in the average with a 7.1 overall and picked up 50 points in the rodeo, building on a successful spring for the transfer.
Feyder said it was a big moment for her to pick up some points in what has been a slow season.
"I was working hard, and things weren't coming together, but I figured if I just kept going things would eventually come together and it finally did. I was kind of bittersweet to finally contribute to the team in the end."
There is just one rodeo remaining for the Golden Eagles as they head to the Laramie River Rendezvous this weekend hosted by the University of Wyoming.
Performances in Laramie will be at 6:30 pm on Friday and Saturday nights with the short go being held at 11:00 am on Sunday morning. Slack will be held at noon on Friday and 10:00 am on Saturday.
More information can be found on the LCCC rodeo schedule page at www.golccc.com.