East Mississippi finishes fourth in men’s team rodeo competition at Northwest Mississippi

SENATOBIA – The East Mississippi Community College rodeo teams placed fourth and eighth in respective men's and women's competition this past weekend at the annual Ranger Rodeo, presented by Sycamore Bank.  The three-day event concluded Saturday evening at the Northwest Mississippi Community College Multipurpose Arena.

In the men's competition, three EMCC cowboys combined to total 300 points for the fourth-place team finish.  The University of West Alabama claimed the men's team title by just 15 points (690-675) over runner-up Missouri Valley College.  Fourth-ranked UT Martin placed third with 580 team points.

Nationally ranked all-around EMCC cowboy Marcus Theriot won the tie down roping and earned 160 points after clocking times of 9.1 and 9.9 seconds.  Kody Rinehart and Palmer White collected 80 and 60 points, respectively, for the Lions in the saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling events.

Arkansas-Monticello edged out Missouri Valley, 295-255, to capture the women's team title.  Southern Arkansas (205 points) and Murray State (200) finished a close third and fourth, respectively.

Katelyn Nicholson earned EMCC's 60 women's points in the goat tying competition.

Coach Morgan Goodrich's East Mississippi rodeo team will travel to Texarkana, Arkansas this week (Thursday-Saturday) to close out this year's National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's Ozark Region regular-season schedule at Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas.

This week will mark the final opportunity for teams and individuals to qualify for this year's College National Finals Rodeo, June 12-18, in Casper, Wyoming.  The top three students in each event as well as the top two men's and women's teams from the NIRA's 11 regions will qualify for the CNFR.