EMCC men post season-best, fourth-place team finish at Southern Arkansas-hosted rodeo

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The East Mississippi Community College men's rodeo team posted a season-best, fourth-place finish this past weekend at the Southern Arkansas University Intercollegiate Rodeo.  The three-day event concluded Saturday night at Story Arena.

The majority of EMCC's 430 men's team points came during the team roping competition.  The tandem of Weston Pender and Clay Green finished second in the first round with a 6.7-second clocking en route to placing third in average (19.5 seconds) and total points (120 each).  The combined efforts of Lion cowboy Morgan Mills and cowgirl Kayley Kennemer accounted for a fifth-place showing in the event that logged 75 points for each of EMCC's teams.  In addition, the EMCC duo of Myles Neighbors and Garner Holcomb made it back to Saturday's short go-round in team roping, as did Lion sophomore Ethan Awa with Cooper Lee of host SAU.

Neighbors, who earlier this year earned the Jr. Ironman Championship title, collected top honors in the short go of SAU's steer wrestling competition with a time of 5.2 seconds to finish fifth in average (14.1 seconds) and total points (80).  Pender, a native of Poplarville, also earned 25 points for the Lions in steer wrestling.

In the men's team competition, East Mississippi finished just 60 points behind host Southern Arkansas and only 75 away from runner-up UT Martin.  Missouri Valley College grabbed team honors in both the men's and women's competitions with 665 and 345 points, respectively.

For the EMCC women, Kennemer picked up the team's only 75 points in the team roping event while also making it back to Saturday's short go-round in the barrel racing competition.  Lady Lion teammate Taylor Vollin advanced to the short go in the goat tying event.

Coach Morgan Goodrich's East Mississippi rodeo teams will conclude the fall portion of their 2018-19 NIRA Ozark Region schedule by competing at Murray State University, Nov. 15-17, in Murray, Ky.