East Mississippi men's rodeo team places third in EMCC-hosted event held at West Point's Eagle Ranch

WEST POINT – The East Mississippi Community College men's rodeo team placed third this past weekend at the fourth event of the Ozark Region's spring rodeo schedule.  The three-day rodeo, hosted for the second straight year by EMCC, concluded Saturday evening at West Point's Eagle Ranch.

EMCC's 370 total team points on the men's side stood behind the University of Tennessee at Martin (665 points) and Missouri Valley College (573.33 points), who rank first and fifth, respectively, among the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's top men's rodeo teams in the current national standings.   

For the East Mississippi men, transfer cowboys Colt Fisher (Sulphur, La.) and Justin Pruitt (Greenbrier, Ark.) totaled 260 points for their second-place finish with a 13.3-second cumulative clocking in the team roping competition.  Including their back-to-back team roping titles during the first two rodeos of the spring slate, Fisher and Pruitt presently rank second regionally with 450 cumulative points apiece in their respective team roping header and heeler categories.

Tucker Evans (Ocala, Fla.) accounted for EMCC's other 110 men's points in the saddle bronc riding and team roping events.  He finished in a third-place tie (70 points) in saddle bronc riding and added 40 more points pairing with teammate A.J. Pennington in team roping.

Competing individually for the Lions, sophomore cowboy Shane Overby placed third in the men's all-around by collecting 255 total points.  The Raleigh High School product won the calf roping competition with a composite time of 17.9 seconds to give him 180 points.  The Morton native earned the other 75 points while pairing with Southern Arkansas' Cord Barricklow in team roping.

EMCC's cowgirls did not collect any team points in the West Point rodeo event, which was won by Troy University (440 points) on the women's side.  Tennessee-Martin edged out Southern Arkansas, 290-285, for second place.

Coach Morgan Goodrich's East Mississippi rodeo teams will compete this week (April 3-5) at the Northwest Mississippi Community College-hosted rodeo in Senatobia.