GILLETTE, WY – The Laramie County Community College rodeo team came out with a statement in their opening rodeo of the spring, picking up big points from the women's side and earning a individual title on the men's side at the Gillette College Rodeo.
The women's team stole the show, finishing in second place with 425 points, moving up to third in the Central Rocky Mountain Region standings, jumping over three other teams in the process.
The men's team saw success come from more members that weren't on the points team and while there were a lot of Golden Eagles in the short go, they only brought in 120 team points and remain seventh in the region standings.
Cory Bomhoff had the best rodeo of the weekend for any of the Golden Eagles, winning both the long and the short go in tie down roping with an 8.1 in his first go and an 8.0 in his second go. His 16.1 on two head won the rodeo by a full second in the average.
Bomhoff moved to second in the CRMR standings with the win and is only 115 points behind Dalton Porch of Gillette for the top spot. He is 90 points ahead of the University of Wyoming's Rhett Witt who is in fourth place.
Bomhoff also picked points in team roping where he and his partner from Gillette College were the sixth fastest time in the long go with a 9.0 for ten points but failed to catch in the short go to finish in seventh in the average.
On the women's side, Wacey Day also finished in second in the all-around race with a pair of third place finishes in breakaway and goat tying. The senior from Fleming had a 2.5 in the long go in breakaway which was tied for fourth and she improved with a 2.3 in the short go to take third in the go and move up to third in the average for 95 points.
Day's best event is goat tying and she showed off her skills there too getting into a three-way tie for second in the long go with a 7.1. Her 7.3 in the short go was tied for third again and her average of 14.4 was just one tenth of a second off of second and earned another 115 points.
The week was the best in goat tying this season for Day and moved her into eighth in the region standings. It was the first points of the season for her in breakaway and pushed her to 15th in the standings but only 195 points away from the third spot.
Another Golden Eagle who had their best week of the season was Tate Miller in bareback where the sophomore put down his best score of the year with an 80 on his first ride which also earned him the round win for the first time.
He followed it with a 69 on his second ride and while that was only good for sixth in the go, his average of 149 was second and it was worth 120 points in the season standings. Miller is now tied with Cinch Kiger from Chadron for third in the region standings with 385 points and he is one of only four riders who have scored points in every rodeo this year.
A lot of other Golden Eagles also made it back into the short go.
Shelby Derner added to her all-around opportunities with a great show in breakaway. Derner was third in the long go with a 2.4 and followed with a 2.3 in the short go to finish in second place for the average. Derner now has 210 points in the region standings and is 10 points from qualifying for the all-around with 190 points in team roping.
Two other Golden Eagles made it back to the short go in breakaway. Ali Vaughn had a 2.9 which was tied for sixth in the long go and Korlyn Slattery had a 3.0 in the short go to finish just outside of the points. Both missed their calf in the short go.
Hanna Mendenhall continued her strong freshman season for the Golden Eagles. The Idahoan made it back to the short go in goat tying with a 7.5 which was good for fifth in the long go and picked up another five points in the short go with an 8.8. her 16.3 average as .4 second from earning her points as well.
In team roping, the duo of Cassie Shoemaker and Makaylee Fischer threw down an 8.2 in the long go to make it back and scoop up 40 points for their third-place finish. While they missed their catch in the short go, so did all but three of the field and the duo picked up another 20 points for 60 total.
They picked up their first points in team roping and now sit in 22nd place for both headers and heelers.
Only one LCCC team member made it back in steer wrestling on the weekend. Grey Gilbert had a nice run of 6.5 in his long go but couldn't pair it with a catch in the short go and was left with just 20 points for the weekend. It did get him onto the board in bulldogging in the region standings as he is in 24th in the CRMR.
Rhett Tattrie rounds out the rough stock for the men's team where he also was able to pick up some points with a 72 on his first bareback bronc. A 66 in the short go gave the Canadian 138 points and that was enough for a fifth-place tie and 15 more regional points. Tattrie bumped up to tenth in the region standings with the performance and picks up his first points since the Central Wyoming College Rodeo.
Paige Twitchell made it back in barrel racing but her 14.54 paired with a short go of 14.78 had her in 9th in the average.
The Golden Eagles have a week long break before they get back to the action for the Eastern Wyoming College Rodeo in Torrington.