Gardner Finishes Fourth in Short Go at NIRA College National Finals Rodeo, Second Overall
CASPER, WYO.— Sophomore Raelyn Gardner (Lovington, NM/Lovington HS) from the Eastern New Mexico University rodeo team finished fourth in the short go of the breakaway roping Saturday night at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association College National Finals in Casper, Wyo. [more]

Gardner Turns in Top Performance in Third Go at NIRA
College National Finals Rodeo
CASPER, WYO.— Sophomore Raelyn Gardner (Lovington, NM/Lovington HS) from the Eastern New Mexico University rodeo team notched the best overall performance in the third go of the breakaway roping Thursday afternoon at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association College National Finals in Casper, Wyo. [more]

Sanders and Gardner Complete Second Go at NIRA College Nationals Final Rodeo
CASPER, WYO.— Sophomore Raelyn Gardner (Lovington, NM/Lovington HS) finish the second go of the breakaway roping with a time of 4.2 seconds this afternoon at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association College National Finals Tuesday evening in Casper, Wyo. Senior Rowdy Sanders (Whiteface, Texas / South Plains College is tied for 11 th place in the bull riding. [more]

Sanders and Gardner Place Third and Tenth in First Go at NIRA College Nationals Final Rodeo

CASPER, WYO.—Senior Rowdy Sanders (Whiteface, Texas/South PlainsCollege) concluded the first go of the bull riding at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association College National Finals in third place Sunday evening. Sophomore Raelyn Gardner (Lovington, NM/Lovington HS) placed tenth in the first go for the breakaway roping. [more]

Rowdy Sanders and Raelyn Gardner to Compete at 2006 College National Finals Rodeo
Eastern New Mexico University rodeo athletes Rowdy Sanders (Sr., Whiteface, TX/South Plains College) and Raelyn Gardner (So., Lovington, NM/Lovington HS) will be competing next week at the 2006 College National Finals Rodeo. The CNFR is set for June 11-17 in Casper, Wyo. Sanders will compete in bull riding and Gardner will participate in break-away roping.

Rodeo athletes had to conclude the regular season ranked among the top three finishers in an event within their Region in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association in order to qualify for the National Finals. ENMU competes in the Southwest Region, which is generally considered one of the top two regions in the NIRA. Gardner won the Southwest Region title in break-away roping, while Sanders finished in second place in bull riding. [more]

Higgins Just Misses Short Go with 13th Place Finish at College National Finals Rodeo
Bennett Takes 15th Place, Gililland Finishes in 18th Place
Eastern New Mexico University senior bull rider Dusty Higgins (Sr., Roswell, NM/New Mexico JC) just missed the short go in bull riding at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., as he finished in 13th place, one spot from advancing to the final round. Higgins scored 79.0 points to win the second go, but failed to score in the first go and the third go. He was edged out from making the finals by Matthew Boyers of Murray State University, who scored a 79.5 in the first go for his only successful ride of the CNFR. [more]

Bennett, Gililland, Higgins Complete Third Go at College National Finals Rodeo
Higgins Still in Running for Short Go
Senior bull rider Dusty Higgins (Sr., Roswell, NM/New Mexico JC) remains in the running for the short go at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., despite not scoring on his ride in the third go. Bull riding has been wide open this year, with virtually every athlete failing to score in at least one round. Eight rides are on tap for Friday, June 17, to complete the third go. [more]

ENMU Athletes Off to Solid Start at College National Finals Rodeo
Gililland and Jackson are Third in Team Roping; Higgins Tied for Sixth in Bull Riding; Bennett is 20th in Barrel Racing
The Eastern New Mexico University rodeo teams have three representatives at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo. After two rounds in each event, two of Eastern's athletes are ranked in the Top 10 of their respective events, while the third remains in the Top 20. [more]

ENMU Rodeo Qualifies Three Athletes for 2005 College National Finals Rodeo
PORTALES, N.M. — Eastern New Mexico University rodeo athletes Dusty Higgins (Sr.,
Roswell, NM/New Mexico JC), James Gililland (Sr., Tularosa, NM/Tularosa HS) and Brittany Bennett (Fr., Portales, NM/Dora HS) have qualified for the 2005 College National Finals Rodeo, set for June 12-18 in Casper, Wyo. Higgins qualified for the CNFR in bull riding, while Gililland qualified as a team roping healer and Bennett qualified in barrel racing. It is the second straight year in which ENMU has qualified three athletes for the CNFR. [more]

Program History

The ENMU Rodeo Program has a strong tradition in the Southwest Region as well as the NIRA. The 2001– 02 season will be the 40th year that ENMU has competed in college rodeo.

Since the inception of college rodeo Eastern's men's and women's teams have combined for a total of 5 national championships and 4 runner up championships. The earliest of these being in 1967 when the women were national champs and the latest of these being in 1992 when they were runner up to national champs.

Eastern has qualified many individuals to the finals and has had many top teams in the Southwest Region.

Last year ENMU qualified seven athletes to the College Rodeo Championship Series in Hobbs, NM. Ky Atwood and James Gililland qualified in the team roping, Kyle Dutton in the calf roping, Ashley Sultemeir and Kelly Jo Jump in the goat tying, and Johnna Garcia and Kristin Gendron in the barrell racing. Atwood, Gililland, Dutton, Sultemeier, Garcia and Gendron all went to qualify for the College National Finals in Casper, Wyoming. Johnna Garcia was again selected as the top academic femal in the College Rodeo and recieved a scholarship for the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco.

ENMU qualified seven athletes to the College Rodeo Championship Series in 2003. The men's team qualified Jeff Cavey in the saddle bronc riding, Dusty Higgins and Dale Vickrey in the bull riding, Chance Parsons in the steer wrestling, and Tabor Smith and James Gililland in the team roping. The women's team qualified Kendra Jones in the goat tying. From the seven athletes to qualify for the conference finals, three went on to compete at the 2003 CNFR in Casper, Wyoming. Dale Vickery and Chance Parsons represented ENMU men's team and Kendra Jones made a fine showing for the women's team. Kendra placed 7th in the nation in the goat tying, earning the ENMU Women's Team a 10th place finish at the CNFR. The men's and women's teams finished 6th and 8th in the Southwest Region in 2003.

ENMU Rodeo Scholarship Information

If you are interested in being considered for a scholarship, contact:
David Browder
Office Phone 505.562.2269
e-mail: david.browder@enmu.edu

You can also fill out the online information form, to submit your information right from your computer!