Women Take Title at NWOSU Rodeo

Rodeo | 11/4/2014 5:00:00 PM

DURANT, Okla. – After posting solid performances over the opening weeks of the season, Southeastern finally broke through in Alva, Okla., with the Savage Storm women's rodeo team picking up a team title at the Northwestern Oklahoma State rodeo, while the men posted a sixth place team finish.
 
The women beat rival Southwestern Oklahoma State by 65 points on the strength of very strong outings in the barrel racing and goat tying events.
 
Katelyn McLeod finally had her breakthrough college outing with a 15.41 in the long-go to win the round before nearly matching it with a 15.44 in the short-go to win that round as well and take the top spot in the average.
 
She bested team mate Ari-Anna Flynn who was second in the long-go with a time of 15.67 and second in the short-go with an improved 15.55 to finish a combined .37 seconds behind McLeod in the average.
 
In the goat tying it was Cheyenne Budvarson who opened with a 7.4 in the long-=go which split 5^th/6^th, but came back in the short-go with a time of 7.8 to finish third and jump to third in the average.
 
The win lifts the team to fourth in the tea regional standings, while a trio of Storm riders are regionally ranked in the barrels, led by Flynn in first, McLeod in third and Katelyn Prentice in sixth.
 
Budvarson is currently 11^th in the region in goat tying and Sarah Schneider is in 15^th.
 
The men were led by Kolton Schmidt who partnered with Sawyer Barham of Coffeyville CC to finish fourth in the long-go of the team roping event with a time of 6.8.  They followed it up with a quicker mark of 5.7 in the short-go to jump to third in the average.
 
Ben Whiddon teamed with Dalton Richards of NWOSU and posted a 6.9 in the long-go to split 5^th/6^th, and came back with a 10.9 in the short-go after getting stuck with a five second penalty to finish sixth in the average.
 
The men's team is currently seventh in the region, but does feature six riders ranked in the top-10 in their respective events in the region.
 
Whiddon leads that group as the second-ranked heeler among team ropers, while Schmidt is right behind as the third-ranked header.
 
Sam Stamper and Jake Dudley are currently eighth in the team roping.
 
Chase Bowers is 10^th in the bull riding, while Kade Lewis is 10^th in the tie down roping.
 
Southeastern is done with its fall slate of competition and will be back on the road on Feb. 20-22 when it heads to Manhattan, Kan., for the Kansas State Rodeo.