Your future, our focus
BY RANDAL HOROBIK
Powell Tribune
Montana State sweeps first fall events
The Northwest College women placed third while the NWC men were fourth on both days of the Trapper Stampede rodeo this past weekend. The Friday and Saturday events, which were scored individually, marked the beginning of the 2010-2011 collegiate rodeo season.
Bareback rider Jordan Gill was the lone winner at Friday’s session. Gill scored a 72-point ride to finish two points better than Miles’ Brendon Lemmon. Clinton Griffis was fifth overall in the final standings.
Bullrider Cayd Kluesner was one of just three riders to turn in a score on Friday, placing third in the event.
On the women’s side of the ledger, Haily Hamlin and Steffani Hofrichter each picked up third-place finishes to lead the way for Northwest College. Hamlin placed third in breakaway roping. Hofrichter matched her with a third-place finish in goat tying.
Hofrichter’s time was just one-tenth of a second off the winning pace in her event. Dannielle Marcin finished in a tie for seventh place in barrel racing and Pamela Vanek was eighth in goat tying.
Saturday’s session was highlighted by a trio of event wins by the Trappers. Gill scored a 74-point bareback ride to key a one-two finish by NWC riders. Griffis built upon the previous day’s fifth-place ride to finish as Saturday’s runner-up.
On the women’s side, Hofrichter easily won the breakaway roping, turning in a winning time of 3.4 seconds. Only one other performer was able to register a time within half a second of her winning time. Vanek tied for top honors in goat tying with a nine-second time.
Marcin and Trapper teammate Bailie Allshouse clocked identical times of 18.06 seconds in barrel racing to finish in a tie for fifth-place and round out the women’s scoring. Sam Shelton capped the men’s results with a third-place steer wrestling performance.
In the regional team standings, the Trapper men stand in fourth place after the season’s first two rodeos. The NWC men scored 592 points over the weekend. Montana State, which swept all four men’s and women’s team titles at the Trapper Stampede, leads the Big Sky Region with 1,675.5 points. Miles Community College is second with 1,304.
The Northwest College women begin the season in third place within the region, carrying a total of 507.5 points forward.
Montana State leads the way with 821.5 points. The University of Montana, Western is in second place with 679.5 points.
The Northwest College rodeo team returns to action this weekend. The team will travel to Havre, Mont., to compete at Montana State University-Northern. The team also has rodeos at Miles City, Mont., and Dillon, Mont., before the winter recess.