USU Rodeo Club places fifth in Rocky Mountain Region

By Irene Gudmundson

October 2, 2006 | After a long-go-round of riding, tieing and an injured member, five Utah State University Rodeo Club members helped bring the USU club into the Rocky Mountain Region's fifth place spot Saturday night in Logan.

"We've got some really young [members] this year," said club adviser Jeff Hall. "Some [are] a little raw and some at their prime."

Bareback rider and rodeo club president Derik Page, who won regionals the last two years, is in his prime, said Hall. Page got 131 points after his ride Saturday. According to the Rocky Mountain Region standings on collegerodeo.com, as of Oct. 2 he is in second place with 285 points.

"It's you against the animal, not you against another person," said Hall.

Competitors Randy Muir, Cole Smith, Zach Schofield, Dustin Larson and Page went against the animal and made it to the short-go-round (final competition) Saturday night. The top 10 competitors for each event from the long-go-round (first round of competition) compete in short-go-round. The long-go-round was in two parts, Friday night and Saturday afternoon.

Muir, rodeo club vice president, said the female members of the club fared well in the earlier rodeo but didn't make it to Saturday's big night.

Muir added that a lot more students joined the club this year than in the past.

Individual rodeo scores are a combination of scores for the rider and the animal; that way a tired or distraught animal's behavior is accounted for. The final scores for Saturday's rodeo are a combination of the long-go-round and the short-go round.

Before the short-go-round Page said that in the long-go-round, the team did well but had areas needing improvement.

One loss to the club during the long-go-round was Jeff Hearty, a bull rider, who was "doing very well," said Hall. When he was bucked off during the long-go-round the bull fell on top of him, Hall said, dislocating a shoulder. Hearty will not be able to compete again until spring.

The club has two members who've made it to the College National Finals: Page and Smith, a calf roper.

Smith won second place in calf roping with a score of 22.7. In the regional standings he is in fifth place with a total of 120 points.

Muir also competed in the calf roping event with a score of 35 putting him in seventh place in region standings.

Muir's 35 points and Smith's 22.7 points paint a confusing picture of the scoring method used in rodeo but the final points and standings for each event are a combination of the long-go rounds-- in this case Smith placed fourth in the first long-go and third in the second whereas Muir placed second in the first and sixth in the second -- Smith's average is higher putting him at second place.

The rodeo club members practice roping with actual animals about twice a week and use dummies on other days Muir said.

"It takes a lot of time and money," he said.

Club members use their own animals and personal money to pay entry fees and travel costs. When they don't win they don't get anything in return, said Hall.

Larsen, a bull rider, and Schofield, a saddle bronc rider, didn't place at the short-go-round but in their respective events, Larsen is in third place in the region with 100 points and Schofield is in ninth with 10.

"We've got some great [members] this year," said Page. "We're doin' well."

Hall, who paid most of his way through college doing professional rodeo, is confident that at this weekend's rodeo in Pocatello the club will do better.

"It's stressful at a home rodeo because you're all doing so much" he said. "If they can all come together [in Pocatello] we'll be doin' really well."

After the club travels to Pocatello this weekend, their final rodeo for fall is in Ceder City on Oct. 14. Rodeo club will begin competing again in March.

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