SWTJC’s 58th-annual rodeo draws 392 contestants
Southwest Texas Junior College sophomore Taylor Lawson ropes a calf in 2.0 seconds during a Breakaway Roping session held at the 58th annual collegiate rodeo. The event, which drew over 392 contestants, was held at the Uvalde County Fairplex on Oct. 2-3.
Over 392 contestants and 12 colleges from the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Southern Region traveled to Uvalde to compete in Southwest Texas Junior College's 58th annual collegiate rodeo, held Oct. 2-3 at the Uvalde County Fairplex.
The SWTJC women's team finished third overall, breaking into the top five for the first time in a long while, said SWTJC Joey Almand.
“It was definitely a different environment this year,” explained Almand, in reference to the rodeo being closed to the public this year due to COVID-19.
“This year we could only host our contestants, immediate family and our officials. It was a challenge, but I feel under the circumstances, it went very well...”
The SWTJC rodeo team comprises 27 collegiate rodeo cowboys and cowgirls.
Women's Team
Leading the women’s team to a third-place overall finish was sophomore Taylor Lawson from New Waverly, who beat 89 entries to win the first round of the breakaway roping when she snagged her calf in a rapid 2.0 seconds.
The run ultimately brought her back to the short round in the number one slot.
Although Lawson was even faster on her second calf, 1.8 seconds, she received a 10 second penalty for not giving her calf the required head start. Even with the penalty, Lawson finished fifth in the final round and third overall.
Freshman Rheagan Cotton also shined in the ladies breakaway roping. Cotton was 2.3 seconds in round one and split second.
She ended up eighth overall after having some tough luck in the final round. Freshman Jesse Headstream and Lacy Bruening missed the final round by only a few tenths.
Headstream roped her calf in 2.5 seconds and Bruening was 2.7.
“We have some really talented ladies on our team this year. I feel like our breakaway ropers can definitely compete with anyone,” explained Almand.
Bruening did make the short round cut in Goat Tying after being 7.1 and splitting fourth place on her first run.
She was seventh in the final round and ended the weekend in sixth place overall.
Men's Team
SWTJC cowboys put together some really good runs in the men’s tie down roping and team roping.
In round one of the tie down roping, sophomore Wes Silar was 9.2 seconds, while freshman Tres Mendietta was a 9.7, followed by Hagen Herring with a 10.4 and Alejandro Gonzalez with an 11.3.
Silar and Mendietta advanced to the short round. Silar went into the finals splitting third and Mendietta went in splitting eighth.
Silar was eighth in the final round and ended the weekend eighth overall, while Mendietta finished ninth.
Team Roping
In team roping, SWTJC veteran heeler Buckshot Patterson snagged two feet in 8.4 seconds in round one for fourth place, while header Reno Stoebner turned a steer for his partner in 8.9 seconds good enough for sixth.
Although the two ropers had some tough luck in the short round, Patterson finished seventh and Stoebner finished eighth.
Sophomore Jace Frerck and partner were 4.5 seconds in round one, but received a 10 second penalty for breaking the barrier.
Regional Standings
At the completion of the event, Buckshot Patterson sits third in the regional heeling standings while Taylor Lawson sits fifth in the region’s breakaway roping and sixth in the ladies barrel race regional standings.
The team is prepping to travel to their next competition at Mt. Pleasant, which is hosted by Northeast Texas Community College on Oct. 16-17 and will finish out their fall contests at Sam Houston State University Nov. 13-14.
Photo by: Jennings Rodeo Photography