EMCC places third at Northwest-hosted rodeo; Carli Hodges wins regional barrel racing title
The East Mississippi Community College rodeo teams closed out the regular-season portion of their NIRA Ozark Region schedule by recently earning third-place team finishes in both men’s and women’s competition at the annual Ranger Rodeo hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College. The three-day event was held April 25-27 at the Northwest Multipurpose Arena.
SENATOBIA – The East Mississippi Community College rodeo teams closed out the regular-season portion of their NIRA Ozark Region schedule by recently earning third-place team finishes in both men's and women's competition at the annual Ranger Rodeo hosted by Northwest Mississippi Community College. The three-day event was held April 25-27 at the Northwest Multipurpose Arena.
The University of Tennessee at Martin rodeo teams claimed both team titles in Senatobia with men's and women's team victories over runner-up Missouri Valley College. UT Martin topped MVC, 750-670, in men's action and 480-385 in women's competition.
On the men's side, EMCC collected all 420 team points in the team roping competition. Morgan Mills partnered with West Alabama's Hunter Crofford to post a pair of winning 7.1-second runs and earn 180 team points for each school. The EMCC tandem of Weston Pender and Clay Green tied for second-place honors and garnered a total of 240 points between them.
In the women's competition, EMCC's Carli Hodges captured the 2018-19 Ozark Region barrel racing championship by claiming her fourth regional event title of the season at the Northwest-hosted season finale. The Summerdale, Alabama native won the short go and the average to earn 160 points for her win and increase her season total to a region-best 865 points for a No. 5 national ranking in the event. Hodges' overall regional championship in the barrel racing competition automatically qualifies her for the College National Finals Rodeo to be held June 9-15 in Casper, Wyoming.
Also for the EMCC women, sophomore Jadi Gibbs garnered 95 points for her second-place tie in the breakaway roping competition at Northwest. Lady Lion freshman Kayley Kennemer earned 25 points in breakaway roping and another 20 points in barrel racing to contribute to EMCC's 300 team points on the women's side.