The Northwest College rodeo team has struggled early in the spring season, leading to lower placements at rodeos in Bozeman and Havre, Montana.

The Trappers first rodeo was at Montana State University in Bozeman on April 10-11, where Northwest men finished with 160 points to take fifth and the women earned 10 points to finish fifth.

The highest placements for the Trappers came from Gary Thomas who took sixth in the tie down roping, alongside the header/heeler duo of Chance Marshall and Rilee Fisher who also took sixth.

Drew Ellingson placed seventh in the tie down roping and Ava Malone was the lone cowgirl to place, tying for eighth in breakaway roping.

In the second rodeo at MSU on April 12-13 the Trapper men moved up to fourth place with 170 points.

This time the Trappers were led in part by Nathan Ruth, who placed third in tie down roping, was fifth as a team roping heeler and tied for sixth in the all-around standings.

Weston LaPierre was the other Trapper to place, taking eighth in the tie down roping.

“We got plenty of kids in the short round, and then they got to the short round and they did not do any good,” coach Del Nose said.

The Trappers then made the trip to Havre to take part in the MSU-Northern rodeo where the Trapper men finished fourth with 135 points and the women finished fifth with 90 points.

Northwest was led once again by Ruth, who finished first in tie down roping, while Jessica Hiebert placed third in the breakaway roping.

“I was tickled with Nate winning the rodeo. He’s got a shot to go to the finals (College National Finals Rodeo),” Nose said. “She (Hiebert) also rode really well.”

Northwest will continue its spring season this weekend, heading to Miles City, Montana, to take part in a pair of rodeos.

The first rodeo will start today (Thursday) and conclude on Friday, while the second rodeo will start Saturday and end Sunday.

Nose said the team is focusing on just continuing to get better mentally and getting individuals to qualify for the finals in Casper in June.

“I hope it turns out better. The kids have got all the talent in the world, mentally I’m just trying to get them to believe in themselves and have confidence,” Nose said. “Right now all I’m focused on is getting these individuals to go to the finals.”

The Northwest men are still sitting third in the Big Sky standings with 1,329 points but are well behind University of Montana-Western and MSU who are sitting in the top two spots.

Northwest will have one more weekend on the road after Miles City, heading to the University of Montana on May 2-3 to conclude the spring season.