Women's Rodeo Team Ropes Regional Championship

Led by women’s all-around cowgirl champ Bailey Guthrie, Texas Tech’s women’s rodeo team was crowned the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s (NIRA) southwest regional team champion at the Tarleton State University Rodeo in Stephenville.

Some 15 colleges and universities across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico competed at the event.

Guthrie, a junior pre-physical therapy major from Rigby, Idaho, took second in go round one in both breakaway roping and goat tying, said Chris Guay, rodeo coach and an instructor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. Guthrie tied for third in the finals in breakaway, giving her a second place overall finish. She placed first in the finals to take first overall in goat tying. Ultimately, Guthrie’s efforts won her the women’s all-around cowgirl championship.

Other women’s team members had the following results:

• Dani McGuire, a senior agriculture and applied economics major from Gardendale, placed third in go round one of goat tying and finished sixth overall.
• Haley Nelson, a junior business major from Channing, tied for fifth place in go round one and finished seventh overall in barrel racing.
• Cecily Crouch, a sophomore animal and food sciences major from Midland, finished in seventh place in go round one of barrel racing, and later she took ninth place overall.
• Kady Knox, a junior communication studies major from Big Spring, tied for fourth place in go round one in breakaway calf roping, and finished eighth overall.

The team of Guthrie and Nelson, along with Kirsten Stubbs, a sophomore agriculture and applied economics major from Eldorado, and Taylor Langdon, a radiology technology major from Aubrey, will advance to June’s College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.

Men’s Rodeo Team

The Texas Tech men’s rodeo team finished the competition in third place. In individual honors, Adam Sawyer, a senior agriculture and applied economics major from Bassett, Neb., won the men’s all-around championship placing in both the calf roping and steer wrestling events. He tied for first in the calf roping finals, giving him a fourth place overall win.

Saddle bronc rider Clay Creasy, an equine sciences major from Alberta, Canada, placed second in the finals and won second overall. Creasy’s brother Luke Creasy, a senior English major from Alberta, Canada, won the bareback riding championship. Teammate C.J. Kerr, a junior animal and food sciences major from Paradise, finished second for the year in the steer wrestling event. Kerr and Luke Creasy will advance to this year’s College National Finals Rodeo, Guay said.