RIVERTON, Wyo. – Chadron State senior Bridget Romey of Hot Springs, South Dakota won the barrel race at the Central Wyoming College rodeo at Riverton over the weekend.  

Riding her gray gelding named Six, Romey won the long go-round in 17.62 seconds, 29 hundredths of a second faster than any of the other contestants had in that go-round. 

Romey and Six's time of 17.81 in the finals on Sunday was just the sixth fastest, but they were still the overall winners with an aggregate time of 35.43 seconds. That was a tenth of a second ahead of McKinlee May of Colorado State at Fort Collins and Sydney Oedekoven of Laramie County Community College at Cheyenne, who shared second and third place overall. 

After also placing fourth in the barrels at the Chadron State rodeo that opened the season in the Central Rocky Mountain Region, Romey and Six are off to a great start in the regional standings.  

There were 96 barrel racers at the CWC rodeo.  It took a run of 18.13 seconds or better to make the finals. Chadron State senior Brooke McCully was 14th in the long go in 18.23 seconds and freshman Breezy Amiotte was 18th in 18.35 seconds.

Chadron State senior Cinch Kiger of Overton, Nebraska, the bareback riding winner at the CSC rodeo, also did well at Riverton. He was fourth in the first go-round with 69 points and won the finals with a score of 75 to place second overall. Central Wyoming's Eian Smith was the bareback winner with scores of 76 and 73 points.

Two more CSC seniors were finalists in tie down roping at Riverton. Sid Miller was fifth in both go-rounds in 11.1 and 11.7 seconds and also finished fifth overall while Pepper Rhyne won the long go-round in 9.1 seconds, but took a no time in the finals.

The region's third rodeo of the fall season will be this weekend at Sheridan College. 

Lancer Rodeo Team Has Strong Showing at Rustler Round-Up Rodeo

By Jace Hurlburt, EWC Student

The Eastern Wyoming College Lancer rodeo team found success in multiple events at the Central Wyoming College Rustler Round-Up this past weekend.

In steer wrestling, Taydon Gorsuch won the long round with a 3.8-second run and added a 5.2 in the short round to finish second in the average, earning 120 points. Teagan Gourneau stopped the clock at 4.2 seconds in the long round for a second-place finish, then turned in a 5.3 in the short round to place fifth in the average and collect 75 points.

Freshman Tava Sexton of South Dakota led the Lancers in goat tying. She posted a 7.5 in the long round and a 12.0 in the short round to finish ninth in the average and earn 10 points.

In saddle bronc riding, freshman Cade Else of North Dakota marked 60 points in the long round and improved to 68 in the short round, securing fifth in the average and 40 points. Fellow freshman Kutter Acord of Hyannis, Nebraska, scored 65 points in the long round to place ninth in both the round and the average.

The lone Lancer team ropers, Hurlburt and Gourneau, turned in a 10.1-second run in the long round. After a no-time in the short round, the pair finished ninth overall.

Sophomore Tommie Martin of Hayes, South Dakota, had a strong showing in both barrel racing and breakaway roping. In barrels, she posted an 18.10 in the long round to split fifth/sixth and added an 18.66 in the short round to place ninth in the average, picking up 15 points. In breakaway roping, Martin stopped the clock at 2.5 seconds in the long round to qualify for the short round and finished the weekend ninth in the average.

The Lancers will travel to Sheridan for their next competition Sept. 26–28.

Thompson, O'Brien Win Players of the Week

CHADRON, Neb. – After stealing headlines on Saturday with a historic upset win, Chadron State earned a double weekly award, with quarterback Aidan Thompson and linebacker Logan O'Brien sweeping the RMAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards, respectively, as announced by the league office Monday. 

O'Brien has now won the defensive award in back-to-back weeks while Thompson took home top weekly honors after making his first career start at Chadron State, with both playing critical roles in CSC's upset win over No. 23-ranked Colorado School of Mines. The victory over the Orediggers was CSC's first since 2012 and the Eagles' first win over a ranked opponent since the 2018 season. 

Stepping up in place of starter DJ Ralph, who was out with a concussion, Aidan Thompson played efficient and effective football and made plays with both his arm and his legs. The Abilene, Texas native completed 17 of 27 passes for 144 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, finding Tommy Thomas twice and Devon Sundgren once for scores. 

Thompson also rushed six times for 106 net yards, including a 73-yard rushing TD that was the longest by a Chadron State quarterback since 1977. Thompson also had a 47-yard scamper which put the Eagles in the red zone for the eventual game-deciding touchdown.

Logan O'Brien nearly mirrored his Player of the Week-winning stat line once again versus the Orediggers. The redshirt senior finished with eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and another two quarterback hurries. 

O'Brien made a series of plays in the fourth quarter that helped thwart Mines's comeback attempts. He stuffed reigning RMAC Offensive Player of the Week Landon Walker in the backfield on 4th-and-1 to turn the ball over on downs back to CSC with the Eagles clinging to a four-point lead. O'Brien had a sack on the Orediggers' next possession, then effectively ended the game with a quarterback hurry on 3rd-and-10 to force an incompletion with seconds remaining.

New Mexico Highlands senior Mike Jones earned the RMAC's Special Teams Player of the Week award.

After the win over the Orediggers, Chadron State is in a two-way tie for first atop the RMAC standings with a 2-0 conference record. The Eagles will face Colorado Mesa at Elliott Field for homecoming this upcoming Saturday, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.