East Mississippi CC rodeo squad posts fall-best team showings at UWA Rodeo Showdown

LIVINGSTON, Ala. – The East Mississippi Community College rodeo team recorded season-best finishes in men's and women's competition this past weekend at the UWA Rodeo Showdown on the University of West Alabama campus.  With the EMCC men and women placing fourth and third, respectively, the three-day rodeo event concluded Saturday at UWA's Don C. Hines Rodeo Complex.

The Lions compiled 255 team points to finish five points better than host West Alabama while coming up just five points short of third-place Southern Arkansas University.  The University of Tennessee at Martin dominated the men's competition with 875 team points, followed by runner-up Missouri Valley College with 360 points.  In the women's competition, the Lady Lions' 180 team points trailed runner-up Arkansas-Monticello (225 points) and team champion Troy (450).

"I've been pleased with the effort we've been giving this fall, so it's nice to have something to show for our hard work," EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich noted.  "The first two rodeos (Missouri Valley and Murray State) were very tough rodeos and extremely competitive.  I'm hoping this will give us the momentum needed to finish out the fall season strong."

Earlier in the fall, the EMCC men's team finished sixth at the season-opening Missouri Valley rodeo and tied for eighth two weeks later at Murray State.  The EMCC women tied for fifth and sixth in their first two rodeos of the fall.

Individually for the EMCC men in the West Alabama rodeo, sophomores Martin Walker and Shane Overby placed fourth (70 pts) and fifth (65 pts), respectively, in the calf roping event.  In team roping, the EMCC pairings of Eli Shumaker and Garrett Clark along with Kaleb Driggers and Justin Johnson finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

On the women's side, sophomore Kayla Lummus, of West Point's Oak Hill Academy, accounted for all 180 of EMCC's team points by pulling in the maximum points in the breakaway roping event.  Lummus, the older sister of former EMCC cowboy Will Lummus (now at UT Martin), bettered her first go-round time of 3.1 seconds with a 2.8-second effort in the short go.

"We've known Kayla has been very capable of posting results like this," Goodrich added.  "She is extremely talented and we look for her to have an excellent sophomore season with this renewed confidence."

The East Mississippi rodeo team collectively travels to Magnolia, Ark., to compete in the fourth rodeo event of the NIRA Ozark Region's fall slate.  Hosted by Southern Arkansas University, the three-day rodeo will take place Oct. 25-27.  The final regional rodeo of the fall schedule will take place Nov. 15-17 at Troy University in Alabama.