EMCC to be represented for sixth consecutive year at College National Finals Rodeo in Wyoming

SCOOBA – Culminating with a program-best, third-place men's team regional finish this season, the East Mississippi Community College rodeo team will send three participants to next month's College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming.  Men's and women's All-Around regional champions Marcus Theriot and Katelyn Nicholson will be joined by saddle bronc rider Kody Rinehart, June 12-18 at the Casper Events Center, as more than 400 collegiate cowboys and cowgirls compete for national individual and team rodeo championships.

Theriot, the 2014 National High School Finals All-Around Cowboy, enters this year's CNFR as the nation's second-ranked collegiate cowboy with 2,060 total points.  The Poplarville native trails only Jared Parke of top-ranked Blue Mountain Community College, who has compiled 3,414 points during the 2015-16 college rodeo season.  This past weekend at the UA Cossatot-hosted sixth annual Colts College Rodeo in Texarkana, Arkansas, Theriot claimed his fifth All-Around regional event title of the season by scoring 300 of the team's 440 points.

Along with claiming the All-Around men's title among the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's Ozark Region, Theriot also collected regional titles in calf roping (755 points) and team roping-header (670 points) to rank fourth and eighth nationally, respectively.  The reigning Mississippi High School Rodeo Association Boys' All-Around Champion also finished as the Ozark Region's reserve champion in steer wrestling (635 points).

On the women's side, Nicholson likewise captured All-Around honors to complete the EMCC sweep within the Ozark Region's respective All-Around individual standings.  With a pair of All-Around regional event titles on the year, Nicholson clinched the season championship by finishing as reserve champion at last week's regular season-ending rodeo at UA Cossatot.  A native of Lawrence, Nicholson's first-place effort in barrel racing at UA Cossatot allowed her to edge UT Martin's Nealey Dalton by just 20 points (820-800) for this year's Ozark Region barrel racing title.  Nicholson will also compete in goat tying at next month's CNFR after finishing 10^th in the event within the region during the regular season.

Rinehart will make a return trip to the College National Finals Rodeo after competing independently for Blue Mountain College last year.  The Kossuth High School product placed third in saddle bronc riding competition with 680 total points during this year's Ozark Region schedule.   

Concluding this year's 10-event Ozark Region regular-season slate last week with a pair of third-place team finishes at Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas, East Mississippi's rodeo teams respectively placed third and seventh in the final regular-season regional team standings.  The EMCC men totaled 3,620 points during the year to finish only behind nationally third-ranked UT Martin and No. 8 Missouri Valley College within the region.  EMCC's women collected 1,240 total points on the year.     

This season marks the second straight year that East Mississippi will have three competitors participating in the College National Finals Rodeo.  A season ago in Casper, EMCC bull rider Winston Cheek earned 125 points by advancing to the championship round to give the men's team a program-best, 25^th-place national finish.  Coach Morgan Goodrich's 2014-15 team was also represented by fellow bull rider Justin Reeves and All-Around regional reserve champion cowgirl Kelsey Kennemer, who competed in team roping and barrel racing at last year's CNFR.

Two years ago at nationals, EMCC's team roping tandem of Colt Fisher and Justin Pruitt advanced to the finals in leading the Lions to their previous-best, 28^th-place team finish in national competition.  Under Goodrich's guidance, East Mississippi previously earned consecutive 35^th-place men's team showings during CNFR events held in 2012 and 2013.  

Come next month, East Mississippi Community College will have been represented in the College National Finals Rodeo for the sixth consecutive year with at least one cowboy or cowgirl participating annually at nationals since the program's inception in 2010.       

The College National Finals Rodeo is where the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) annually crowns individual event champions in saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying.  The top three student-athletes in each event and the top two men's and women's teams from each of the NIRA's 11 regions annually qualify for the CNFR.  With more than 400 cowboys and cowgirls from over 100 universities and colleges expected to compete individually next month in Casper, national team championships will also be awarded in the men's and women's divisions.