Chance Parsons Wins Steer Wrestling at Sul Ross State University Rodeo
Zias take Third Place in Women’s Team Standings

ALPINE, TX – Chance Parsons of the Eastern New Mexico University rodeo team took first place in steer wrestling at the Sul Ross State University Rodeo. The event was held Oct. 3 through Oct. 5 in Alpine, Texas.

Parsons, who is also participating as a redshirt in football, recorded a time of 4.6 seconds in the long go and entered the short go tied for first place. He scored a 5.0 in the short go to win the event with an impressive total of 9.6 seconds. He edged out Joe Colletti of Vernon College, who finished at 10.0 seconds. Colletti was ranked fifth in the long go, but scored a 4.8 in the short go to shoot up to second place.

Shannon Miller, also from Eastern New Mexico University, made the short go in bareback riding. He scored a 71 on the long go and a 69 in the short go. Miller’s final score of 140 placed him fifth overall. A two-way tie for first place was earned by Austin Griffith of Tarleton State and Tyson Thompson of Western Texas College, who both scored 149 points.

The ENMU men’s rodeo team, with its official list of scorers submitted prior to competition, posted just 5 points in the team standings. The talented cowboys from Tarleton State won the men’s team title with 255 points. Odessa College took second place with 185 points, and third place went to Western Texas College with 165 points. Scoring 130 points and claiming fourth place was Vernon College. South Plains College scored 95 points to take fifth place. Frank Phillips College scored 80 points to steal sixth place from Texas Tech University, which followed closely with 75 points. Other scores were West Texas A&M University at 60 points and Sul Ross State at 30 points.

Jake Degeer of Tarleton State University claimed first place in calf roping with a quick overall time of 18.7 seconds. He beat the entire field by more than two seconds.
Trent Cormier of Western Texas College won bull riding with a score of 82 in the preliminary round and 82 in the short go (164 total). Sam Kelts of Odessa College won saddle bronc riding with a combined score of 151. He scored a 75 in the preliminary round, then scored a 76 in the short go (151 total).

Colby Schneeman of Tarleton State and Jed Middleton of Texas Tech won the team roping with an overall time of 10.3 seconds. They clocked in at 5.3 seconds in the long go and 5.0 seconds in the short go.

ENMU tallied 80 points in the women’s division to swipe third place from Texas Tech, which ended the rodeo with 70 points. The Zias had three cowgirls qualify for the finals. Alesha Tozer and Kendra Jones competed for Eastern in the short go for goat tying. Kristin Gendron advanced to the short go in barrel racing.

Jones placed second in goal tying with an overall time of 19.0 seconds. She logged a time of 9.0 seconds in the long go and a time of 10.0 seconds in the short go. Tozer ran a 9.0 in the long go, but failed to record a time in the short go. Gendron took sixth place in barrel racing, after earning times of 17.29 seconds in the long go and 17.43 seconds in the short go (34.72 overall).

Ashley Sultemeier of Clovis Community College won goat tying with a combined time of 17.91 seconds. Sultemeier led the field in the long go at 7.8 seconds, then clocked in at 10.1 seconds in the short go.

Barrel racing was won by Skye Holman of Tarleton State, who finished the long go in 16.98 seconds and completed the short go in 16.78 seconds for a combined time of 34.66 seconds. First place in break-away roping went to Tessie McMullan of Vernon, who earned a time of 2.6 seconds in the long go and completed her run in 2.9 seconds in the short go (5.5 seconds combined).

Vernon College won the women’s team title with 170 points. Tarleton State finished in second place with 140 points, while ENMU took third and Texas Tech was fourth. Howard College claimed fifth place with 40 points, and Western Texas College earned sixth place with 30 points. The only other women’s teams to score was South Plains College at 25 points.

Shank Edwards of South Plains was named All-Around Cowboy, after making the short go in calf roping, steer wrestling, and team roping. Going into the short go, he was in the top four of each event, but failed to post scores in all three of the short go rounds. Skye Holman of Tarleton State was the All-Around Cowgirl after winning barrel racing .

The Greyhounds and Zias will return to action Oct. 10-12 at the rodeo hosted by Vernon College in Vernon, Texas. ENMU will complete its fall schedule Oct. 24-26 at Texas Tech.