Cowley cowboy, college champ

Posted 6/21/11

For Vezain, it was a wire-to-wire performance. He turned in the top-scoring ride from among a field of 37 competitors in the opening round of the CNFR, scoring 80.5 points. He never relinquished that lead.

Vezain followed his round-one ride with …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Cowley cowboy, college champ

Posted

Vezain claims CNFR bareback crown

Cowley cowboy J.R. Vezain turned in four solid rides to claim the 2011 College National Finals Rodeo bareback national title. The former high school national champion clinched the title with an 80-point ride in Saturday’s short go.

The victory marks the second consecutive year a collegiate national title has been claimed by a rider with ties to the northern Big Horn Basin. Powell’s Kaleb Asay was the 2010 CNFR co-national champion in the saddle bronc.

For Vezain, it was a wire-to-wire performance. He turned in the top-scoring ride from among a field of 37 competitors in the opening round of the CNFR, scoring 80.5 points. He never relinquished that lead.

Vezain followed his round-one ride with a 77.5-point run the following night in his second-round performance. That score would hold up as the second-best score from that flight of competition. On Friday, needing little more than a qualifying ride to earn a place in Saturday’s short go, he uncorked another 80.5-point ride to take a five-point lead into the short go.

Like his ride in round two, Vezain’s third-round performance turned in the second-best score from the field of 37.

On Saturday, Vezain’s run to the title was capped by yet another 80-point ride. While only good enough for third place on the night, the ride was more than enough to deliver the national championship buckle to Vezain.

Vezain currently sits 12th in the PRCA world bareback standings this season. He is running away with the rookie bareback title at the moment, currently with more than double the earnings of his next-closest challenger.

Like Asay a year earlier, Vezain competed for Vernon College in Texas at this year’s CNFR.

As for the 2010 CNFR saddle bronc champion, Asay’s hopes for a repeat national title were dashed in round two when he took a no score. After opening competition with a 77.5-point ride, Asay wrapped up his 2011 appearance in Casper with a 71.5-point ride in Thursday’s third round. The two-ride total left him short of the total needed to advance to Saturday’s short go.

CNFR wraps up another season

CASPER (AP) — The following are third-round winners from the College National Finals Rodeo:

Bareback Riding: (third round) 1, Justin Moldaschel, Casper College, 84.5 points. 2, Tanner Aus, Missouri Valley College, 78.5. 3, Luke Creasy, Texas Tech University, 75. 4, (tie) Winn Ratliff, McNeese State University and Dustin Bowen, Odessa College, 74. 6, (tie) Brendon Lemmon, Miles Community College, and Chance Madsen, Casper College, 72.0. 8, Troy Vaira, Dickinson State University, 71.5. (total on three) 1, Tanner Aus, 234. 2, Justin Moldaschel, 2227. 3, Winn Ratliff, 222.5. 4, Jacob Self, Fort Scott Community College, 220. 5, Caleb Bennett, Utah Valley University, 216. 6, Casey Breuer, Gillette College, 215. 7, Dustin Bowen, Odessa College, 211. 8, Austin Foss, Blue Mountain Community College, 210.

Steer Wrestling: (third round) 1, Ty Erickson, Montana State University, 4.2 seconds. 2, Ace Campbell, University of West Alabama, 4.3. 3, C.J. Kerr, Texas Tech University, 4.4. 4, Jason Thomas, McNeese State University, 4.7. 5, Miles Spickelmier, Chadron State College, 4.8. 6, Justin Zwiefel, Chadron State College, 4.8. 7, Bryan Reay, Blue Mountain Community College, 5.0. 8, Benjamin Carson, Utah Valley University, 5.2. (total on three) 1, Jason Thomas, McNeese State University, 14.0. 2, Kyle Irwin, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 15.6. 3, Dakota Eldridge, Blue Mountain Community College, 15.8. 4, Bryan Reay, 16.0. 5, Ace Campbell, 16.1. 6, Benjamin Carson, 16.5. 7, Tyrel Virden, Mesalands Community College, 18.1. 8, Riley Krassin, Casper Colllege, 21.8.

Breakaway Roping: (third round) 1, Jackie Smith, New Mexico Highlands University, 2.1 seconds. 2, Jayci Miller, Weatherford College, 2.2. 3, (tie) Jana Jasper, New Mexico Highlands University, and Taylor Holliday, University of Nebraska, 2.3. 5, Ty Johnson, Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, 2.5. 6, Katie Jolly, Panhandle State University, 2.9. 7, Heather Luck, Southern Arkansas University, 3.0. 8, (tie) Chelsie McDade, University of Tennessee - Martin; Kelsey Scott, Chadron State College; and Jordyn Johnson, Black Hills State College, 3.2. (total on three) 1, Cadee Tew, Weatherford College, 8.8. 2, Kyla McCain, Southern Arkansas University, 9.5. 3, Katie Jolly, 9.6. 4, Kody Engle, Tarleton State University, 10.0. 5, Jordyn Johnson, 10.4. 6, Cheyanna Robinson, University of Montana, 11.5. 7, Jana Jasper, 19.4. (on two) 8, Jayci Miller, 4.5.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (third round) 1, Merritt Smith, University of Wyoming, 80.5. 2, Ray Tom Meiers, Casper College, 77. 3, Troy Crowser, Panhandle State University, 76.5. 4, Brock Winn, Utah Valley University, 75.5. 5, (tie) Jacobs Crawley, Texas A & M University, and Cole Elshere, Gillette College, 73. 7, Kaleb Asay, Vernon College, 71.5. 8, Chet Smith, Vernon College, 69.5. (total on three) 1, Brock Winn, 224. 2, (tie) Jacobs Crawley, and Ray Tom Meiers, 223.5. 4, Merritt Smith, 220. 5, Troy Crowser, 214.5. 6, Sterling Crawley, 214. 7, Chet Smith, 206.5. 8, Chase Kukuchka, Dickinson State University, 205.5.

Tie-Down Roping: (third round) 1, Cody Shelley, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 8.4 seconds. 2, Isaiah Pemberton, Dickinson State University, 8.9. 3, (tie) Ladd Howell, Weber State University, and Caleb Smidt, Sam Houston State University, 9.5. 5, (tie) Brice Ingo, Panhandle State University and Cole Dorenkamp, Panhandle State University, 9.7. 7, Shay Carroll, Northeastern Junior College, 10.0. 8, Clayton Van Aken, University of Wyoming, 10.2. (total on three) 1, Cody Shelley, 29.1. 2, Brice Ingo, 30.6. 3, Ladd Howell, 30.7. 4, Justin Zwiefel, South Dakota State University, 31.0. 5, (tie) Dane Kissack, Gillette College, and Clayton VanAken, 33.2. 7, Rob Webb, Walla Walla Community College, 33.3. 8, Riley Pruitt, Eastern Wyoming College, 33.8.

Barrel Racing: (third round) 1, Kenra Hoffman, Southern Utah University, 14.20. 2, Kaci Smith, Howard County Junior College, 14.27. 3, Emily Miller, Garden City Community College, 14.36. 4, Robbi Nace, Montana State University, 14.37. 5, (tie) Shelby Tuck, Cuesta College, and Ty Johnson, Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, 14.40. 7, Kylie Ward, Tarleton State University, 14.48. 8, Elizabeth Combs, Sam Houston State University, 14.49. (total on three) 1, Kaci Smith, 43.18. 2, Elizabeth Combs, 43.27. 3, Robbi Nace, 43.43. 4, Emily Miller, 43.47. 5, Brittany Grant, Sam Houston State University, 43.64. 6, Ty Johnson, 43.69. 7, Sammi Lane, New Mexico Highlands University, 43.97. 8, Samantha Logan, College of Southern Idaho, 44.19.

Goat Tying: (third round) 1, Kody Engle, Tarleton State University, 5.8 seconds. 2, Lacey Tech, Central Wyoming College, 5.9. 3, Jordan Thurston, Gillette College, 6.0. 4, (tie) Halley Treeby, Dickinson State University, and Cassie Vierstra, Tarleton State University, 6.5. 6, (tie) Jessica Duncan, Southern Arkansas University, and Dixie Richards, New Mexico State University, 6.6. 8, (tie) Brianne Baty, Treasure Valley Community College; Jamie Britton, Black Hills State University; Jodi Sharp, Texas A & M University; Megan Crist, University of Montana - Western; and Kaylee Moyer, Panhandle State University, 6.7. (total on three) 1, Kate Sharon, Montana State University, 19.2. 2, (tie) Jordan Thurston and Lexy Rianda, Montana State University, 19.7. 4, Jessica Duncan, Southern Arkansas University, 19.8. 5, (tie) Jamie Britton, Black Hills State University, and Cassie Vierstra, 20.2. 7, Dixie Richards, New Mexico State University, 20.3. 8, (tie) Megan Crist and Bliss Bidwell, Feather River College, 20.4.

Team Roping: (third round) 1, Ethan Shelley and Cole Rogers, New Mexico State University, 5.7 seconds. 2, Justin Johnson, Southern Arkansas University, and Ben Runyon, Missouri Valley College, 5.9. 3, Matthew Costa, and Jeffery Larson, West Hills College, 6.0. 4, Ross O’Sullivan, Walla Walla Community College, and Jason Duby, Treasure Valley Community College, 6.8. 5, Andrew Ward, Western Oklahoma State College and Tanner Braden, Northwestern Oklahoma State University, 7.0. 6, Bailey Corkill, University of Nevada - Las Vegas, and Jordan Ketscher, California State University - Fresno, 7.1. 7, Randal Eggemeyer, and Billy Brown, Tarleton State University, 7.2. 8, Brody Self, Tarleton State University and Cullen Teller, Howard County Junior College, 7.4. (total on three) 1, Andrew Ward and Tanner Braden, 21.1. 2, Brody Self and Cullen Teller, 24.6. 3, Matthew Costa and Jeffery Larson, 24.8. 4, Justin Johnson and Ben Runyon, 28.2. 5, Ross O’Sullivan and Jason Duby, 31.0. 6, Trevor Merrill and Garrett Thurston, Utah State University, 32.0. 7, Randal Eggemeyer and Billy Brown, 32.4. (on two) 8, Ty Johnson, Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, and Austin Carrsco, Feather River College, 16.3.

Bull Riding: (third round - three rides) 1, Cody Teel, Sam Houston State University, 81.5 points. 2, Derek Creswell, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, 71. 3, Will Crain, Missouri Valley College, 67. (total on three) 1, Cody Teel, Sam Houston State University, 244.5. (on two) 2, Dalton Votaw, Hill College, 147. (on one) 3, Wyatt Gregg, Dodge City Community College, 80.5. 4, Jake McKellips, Fort Scott Community College, 78.5. 5, (tie) Andrew Coughlin, South Dakota State University and Loagan Helton, Frank Philips College, 77. 7, (tie) Nathan Schaper, Gillette College and Winn Ratliff, McNeese State University, 72.

Men’s All-Around: 1, Dakota Eldridge, Blue Mountain Community College, 180 points. 2, Winn Ratliff, McNeese State University, 125. 3, Cade Rice, Sam Houston State University, 115. 4, Clayton VanAken, University of Wyoming, 90.

Women’s All-Around: 1, Kendra Hoffman, Southern Utah University, 125. 2, Kody Engle, Tarleton State University, 110. 3, Ty Johnson, Cal Poly State University - San Luis Obispo, 105 points. 4, Jordan Crossley, Central Washington University, 80.

Comments