East Mississippi rodeo teams place fourth in both men's and women's competition at Murray State-hosted event

MURRAY, Ky. – Highlighted by sophomore Kelsey Kennemer earning All-Around women's honors, the East Mississippi Community College rodeo teams placed fourth in both men's and women's competition this past weekend at the 39^th Annual Murray State University Racer Roundup College Rodeo.  The three-day event concluded Saturday night at the William "Bill" Cherry Agricultural Exposition Center.

In their third rodeo event of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's Ozark Region schedule, the EMCC men scored a fall-best team showing by placing fourth at Murray State.   The EMCC women posted a second straight fourth-place finish after opening the fall slate by claiming a program-first women's team title at the Missouri Valley College event.

The University of Tennessee at Martin swept the Murray State team titles, totaling 610 points in men's competition to beat Missouri Valley along with earning 340 points on the women's side to edge runner-up Arkansas-Monticello. 

For the EMCC women, Kennemer tallied all 200 of the team's points to garner All-Around women's accolades.  The Troy University transfer by way of Anderson, Ala., placed second in the barrel racing event with a composite time of 31.03 seconds in addition to finishing fifth in the goat tying competition with a combined clocking of 18.0 seconds.

In men's competition for the Lions, sophomore Palmer White, of West Point's Oak Hill Academy, collected 90 points for a third-place tie (12.9 seconds) in steer wrestling.  Freshman Cooper Christensen, from North Pontotoc High School, also earned 90 points for his fourth-place effort (20.1 seconds) in the calf roping event.  Fellow freshman cowboy Dustin Egusquiza also scored for the Lions in calf roping as well as in team roping with partner Ivan Holliday to round out the team's 205-point performance.

In addition, the EMCC men also featured excellent showings from two other team roping tandems during the Murray State-hosted rodeo.  Dale Chancellor (Winston Academy) and Tyler Spears (Neshoba Central HS) teamed to finish second in the event, followed close behind in third place by teammates Ty Holder (Bayou Academy) and Weston Pender (Poplarville HS).  

Coach Morgan Goodrich's East Mississippi rodeo teams resume action this week in nearby Livingston, Ala., by competing in the UWA Rodeo Showdown.  The three-day event, hosted by the University of West Alabama, is set to begin Thursday night and run through Saturday evening at the Don C. Hines Rodeo Complex on the UWA campus.