EMCC women earn runner-up team honors at season-opening rodeo in Missouri

MARSHALL, Mo. — The East Mississippi Community College rodeo teams opened 2021-22 season competition with a second-place women's team finish and a fourth-place men's team showing at the MVC Viking Stampede Rodeo hosted by Missouri Valley College this past weekend.  The three-day event concluded Saturday night at the Saline County Fairgrounds.

Returning five members from last year's Ozark Region championship women's team that posted a program-best, fourth-place team finish at the 2021 College National Finals Rodeo, this year's squad compiled 320 team points to finish just 63.33 points behind first-place UT Martin in the fall season opener.  The West Alabama women placed third with 250 points followed by host MVC with 238.88 points.

The EMCC women were paced by third-year sophomore Jaylie Matthews (Wynne, AR), who won her eighth Ozark Region regular-season barrel racing event by posting times of 15.08 and 14.98 seconds this past weekend to claim 160 team points.  The reigning CNFR reserve champion barrel racer and 2019-20 Ozark Region champion collected four event titles in her specialty event last year and three first-place finishes during the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 rodeo season.

Matthews' younger sister, Taycie, settled for a fourth-place tie in the season-opening barrel racing event after failing to register a time during Saturday's short-go round.  The reigning Ozark Region barrel racing champion earned 60 points at MVC with her winning time of 14.93 seconds during first-round action.

EMCC's other 100 women's points this past weekend came in the breakaway roping competition.  Blair Bryant (Hatchechubbee, AL), the Ozark Region's reigning champion in the event, rebounded with a winning time of 2.8 seconds during Saturday's championship round to collect 95 points for a third-place overall finish.  Mikayla Joh Almond (Olin, NC) added five team points for EMCC in the breakaway roping event.

The EMCC men were led by reigning CNFR participant Myles Neighbors (Benton, AR), who earned second-place honors in MVC's steer wrestling event to earn 140 team points for the Lions.  With a collective total of 11.3 seconds, he shaved 2.1 seconds off his first-round time to post a winning effort of 4.6 seconds during the short-go round.

Newcomers accounted for EMCC's other 185 points on the men's side.  In the tie-down roping competition, Clay Livengood (Cleveland, NC) and Tanner Brown (Florence) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, for 80 and 70 points.  Brothers Cade and Cooper Cowan (Lamar) rounded out the Lions' team scoring by tying for sixth place in the team roping event.

Host Missouri Valley claimed the men's team title with a 200-point victory (915-715) over runner-up UT Martin.  Southern Arkansas finished third with 460 points. 

Coach Morgan Goodrich's EMCC rodeo teams will stay close to home to compete in this week's (Sept. 30-Oct. 2) UWA Rodeo Showdown being hosted by the University of West Alabama at the Hines-Spree Rodeo Complex in Livingston, Ala.  The three-day NIRA Ozark Region college rodeo event will begin Thursday evening and conclude with Saturday night's championship round.  Competition is set to begin at 7 p.m. each night.  The cost for admission will be $10 for adults and $5 for kids.