EMCC rodeo teams ranked among top 10 in midseason national standings

SCOOBA — At the midway point of the 2020-21 college rodeo season, the East Mississippi Community College men's and women's teams both rank among the nation's top 10 in the fall season standings of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA).

Guided by reigning Ozark Region Rodeo Coach of the Year Morgan Goodrich, the EMCC men are presently ranked seventh nationally and third regionally with 2,340 total points.  EMCC's women currently lead the Ozark Region team standings and sit eighth nationally with 1,235 total points. 

The top two men's and women's teams, along with the top three student-athletes in each individual event, from the NIRA's 11 geographic regions will qualify to compete in next year's (June 13-19) College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) to be held in Casper, Wyoming.

Individually for the EMCC Lions, former CNFR all-around national champion Marcus Theriot ranks second nationally in tie-down roping (595 pts) as well as in the men's all-around competition (1,085 pts) for the 2020-21 college rodeo season.  The Poplarville native is just 2.5 points behind the current national leader in tie-down roping and only 165 points shy of men's all-around frontrunner Ty Pope of top-ranked Missouri Valley College.  Theriot is also presently ranked eighth nationally and third regionally in steer wrestling (360 pts).

Also for the EMCC men, reigning top-ranked collegiate steer wrestler Myles Neighbors (Benton, Ark.) ranks fourth in the region and tied for 19^th nationally in his specialty event (270 pts).  In addition, Matt Watt (Scooba) is tied for second regionally and tied for 15^th nationally among team roping headers, while three other EMCC team roping headers (West Smith, Nick Gonzales & Theriot) and two team roping heelers (Clay Green & Cole Curry) are all ranked among the top 10 regional leaders.

In women's Ozark Region competition, EMCC will head into the spring rodeo season holding a narrow 75-point lead over Missouri Valley in the team standings.  A year ago as Ozark Region reserve champions, the EMCC women qualified for the 2020 CNFR but did not get the opportunity to compete at nationals because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The highlight of EMCC's recently completed fall rodeo season was the women's team winning the Southern Arkansas University rodeo (Oct. 22-24) by setting a program record with 475 total team points and finishing 1-2 individually in the barrel racing and breakaway roping events.  

The Lady Lions have been led throughout the fall by freshman Taycie Matthews (Wynne, Ark.), who hails as the nation's top-ranked collegiate barrel racer (690 pts) after winning four of five event titles during the Ozark Region's fall slate.  Her older sister, Jaylie, currently stands third in the region and 16^th nationally (300 pts) after previously finishing the abbreviated 2019-20 NIRA season as the nation's top-ranked collegiate barrel racer.

Also for the EMCC women, Kyla Matthews (Athens, Tenn.) presently ranks second in the region and sixth nationally in breakaway roping (320 pts), while Macayla Womack (Hackett, Ark.) follows at tied for fifth regionally and tied for 23^rd nationally.     

East Mississippi Community College is slated to host the spring opener of the 2021 Ozark Region rodeo schedule Feb. 18-20 at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center in Meridian.  The remainder of the Ozark Region's spring slate includes scheduled rodeos to be hosted by Pearl River Community College (March 25-27), the University of Arkansas at Monticello (April 1-3), the University of Tennessee at Martin (April 15-17), and Northwest Mississippi Community College (April 22-24).

Headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington, the NIRA is jointly comprised of intercollegiate rodeo programs from 130 four-year universities and two-year community colleges that are geographically divided into 11 different regions throughout the country.