Rodeo coach Chad Phipps reported to the Three Rivers College board of trustees Wednesday that TRC’s rodeo team held their own at last week’s Championship College Rodeo.
“We just finished our rodeo, had another successful rodeo. Not as much success as I hoped — I will not be happy until we make $30 or $40,000 — but not losing anything is a success,” he said.
The rodeo, which was co-hosted by the Sikeston Jaycees at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo grounds, attracted schools from across National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Ozark region. It began with what Phipps described as an emotional a tribute to 13 American soldiers killed in August’s infamous Kabul airport bombing. The tribute included 13 riderless horses running through the arena.
Despite a half-hour weather delay on Friday, the rodeo drew record crowds, thanks in part to family-centric attractions like a mechanical bull and petting zoo.
“We had the biggest crowd we’ve ever had on Saturday, so it was a good rodeo,” Phipps said.
“Though we’ve had a slow start in the season,” he added, “we do have several (students) in the top three in the region in the bull riding, and then (in) team roping we have, I think they’re third together ... We’re hanging in and doing good, we just got to get better.”
TRC competitors won 170 points overall in bareback riding (Colten Mitteis, 0 points), calf roping (Kolby Krieger, 120 points), saddle bronc riding (Tyler Freeman, 0 points) and bull riding (Cole Skender, 50 points).
Phipps had special compliments for Skender, as well as one other bull rider who competed in a different event.
“Cole Skender that won second in that (event). He missed our short round Saturday and I was pretty upset. He didn’t tell me until last minute, but in missing our short round, he qualified the PBR (Professional Bull Riders) finals in Las Vegas in three weeks. So he made it worthwhile. And then two weeks ago, one of our kids rode a bounty bull up in Illinois for 12,000 on the bounty, and then in his rodeo this weekend he won close to $14,800-and-something is what he ended up winning on the weekend.”
TRC’s next rodeo competitions will both be held out of state. The first one is Nov. 4-6 at Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia, Arkansas, and the second is the Nov. 18-20 Murray State rodeo at Murray, Kentucky.
Samantha Tucker - Daily American Republic