WNC rodeo off to strong March start

The first two weekends of March ushered in the first of the spring college rodeos for Western Nevada College rodeo students and several of the WNC athletes placed high in both rounds and the average.

West Hills Community College in California and Fresno State University hosted the rodeos.

Kayla Norcutt, Sydney Howard, Kali Reed, Ashley Martinkus, Courtney Wood, Quincy Crum and Josh Smith competed against a very tough group of college students from all over California as well as students from UNLV.

At the West Hills Community College rodeo, Howard took the first round in the breakaway roping in 2.5 seconds but had some tough luck in the short round. Wood and Kayla Norcutt also had strong performances in the goat tying placing first and third respectively in the average.

After competing at West Hills, WNC students traveled to Fresno State University’s rodeo on March the following weekend.

The women’s team won the team standings for the FSU’s rodeo by almost 100 points.

Norcutt placed first in the average in the goat tying, with a combined time of 12.8 seconds on two. Howard was not far behind tying a 13.6 on two, placing second in the average. Wood had some trouble in the short round, however she did make the fastest run of the weekend in the goat tying with a 5.9. She also made it back to the short round in the barrels as well.

As for the men’s team, Crum ended up placing high in the average in the bronc riding and made some great points, putting him closer to a trip to the college finals in June. Reed and her partner Smith were also not far out of the short round in the team roping along with Martinkus, who was only a few out of the short round in the breakaway roping. After this past weekend, Wood and Norcutt sit at the top of the regional standings in the goat tying, with Howard not far behind. Wood is also third in the national standings with only 4 more rodeos left for the season. The women’s team is currently sitting second in the regional standing, closing in on UNLV’s women’s team who sits in first.