Your future, our focus
BY REED TOBOL
Northwest Trail
The NWC rodeo team will return to Montana this weekend after a disappointing performance in Havre, Mont. this weekend.
“Once again, we missed a ton of opportunities this week,” Rodeo Coach Ryan VanderPluym said as he shook his head in a Monday morning NWC-TV interview. “Anything from missing our horses out of the shoot to breakaway ropers not catching- it happened to us.”
The MSU-Northern rodeo in Havre is the Trapper’s longest pull of the season, excelling over 350 miles away from campus.
The men’s team fell in the points standings and now trail the University of Montana by 211 team points.
The women’s team also did not light up the arena as they also dropped in the region points. The University of Montana took over third place. They lead the Trappers by 62.5 team points.
Sophomore bull rider Cayd Kluesner led the men’s team by gathering 90 of the 170 total points earned by the team.
“It was a tough weekend for everyone,” said the 19 year-old Rigby, Idaho, cowboy. “One night we had a bunch of young bulls and the next night they were just good rank bulls. It’s hard to stay consistent when it becomes a drawing contest.”
Leading the Big Sky Region in the bareback riding is NWC’s own Jordan Gill who gathered 40 points for the Trappers this past weekend. Sophomore bull rider Troy Vernon earned the remaining 40 points.
Steffani Hofrichter was the only Trapper competitor that gathered points last weekend. Goat tying treated Hofrichter to a total of 20 team points on the weekend.
This week, the Trappers return to Montana, making their stop in Miles City. There, Miles Community College will host three performances, starting at 7p.m. Thursday. The short go-around concludes the weekend’s action on Saturday afternoon.
“I’ve got some competitors that have been trying to prove to me that they deserve a spot on the points team,” VanderPluym said. “And they are going to get their shot this weekend.”