Rodeo club men shine, women struggle at weekend competitions
Two rodeos in three short days led to a whirlwind weekend of tough competition for the USU rodeo team.
The team traveled to Pocatello, Idaho, this past weekend, participating in the first of three regional rodeos and a regular season rodeo held by Idaho State University.
The Rocky Mountain Regional Rodeo was held Thursday. Contestants entered the one-round rodeo looking to increase points in regional standings. Points are typically given to the top six places, but in a regional rodeo points are awarded to the top eight finishers.
The opportunity of extra points was mostly capitalized on by the men’s team, especially Jace Austin, who placed third in steer wrestling and third in team roping with brother and partner Kyler Austin.
In the end, the USU men’s team wrapped up its first regional rodeo, tied for first with Utah Valley University, while the women did not place.
The Friday ISU rodeo proved to be a challenge for the competitors. Rain poured down making competition difficult and arena conditions undesirable. Even in the inclement conditions, USU had three women qualify in the breakaway roping short go, including Jackie Berryhill, Kate Clissold and freshman Shaylynn Johnson.
Johnson, a local cowgirl, looked to rebound from a rough regional rodeo. She was the only USU breakaway roper to catch her second-round calf. With a run of 4.6 seconds, Johnson finished second in the average.
Johnson’s high potential and skill looks to be an important asset for this young women’s team.
“(It’s) nice for her to find her groove — perform like she wants to,” Clissold said of Johnson.
Clissold, president of the Rodeo Club, notes the effort made by the women’s team to start competing to their potential. While the men’s team continues to be consistent, the women’s side still needs to find its focus.
“We have a lot of talented ropers that missed this weekend — just got to pull it together, be confident,” Clissold said. “Mental toughness, too, is a big part.”
The women’s team failed to post major points this weekend but looks to improve at next week’s home rodeo.
Other notable performances came from Clissold, who was just out of the short go for barrel racing, placing 12th in the first round.
The men’s team’s continued success comes in large part from tandem team brothers Kyler and Jace Austin. Competing in three events, one being team roping, during which they are partners, the brothers are consistently awarded points from at least one event, every rodeo.
In the tie-down roping, both brothers performed at a high level. Freshman Kyler Austin took fifth in the first round and first in the second round, which was good enough for second in the average.
His older brother had similar success placing fourth in the first round and fifth in the second round, for fifth place in the average. Jace Austin’s other noteworthy performance was placing second in the average, in steer wrestling.
Another highlight came from saddle bronc rider Ken Limb, who was the only rider to cover both of his horses.
“We had a competitive weekend,” Clissold said. “The men’s team got a lot of points and is sitting pretty well in the standings.”
The men’s team finished the weekend strong, placing third overall, improving to second in the region; and the women’s team finished sixth overall at ISU, looking to improve on its sixth-place ranking.
Next weekend the club hosts its home rodeo at the Cache County Fairgrounds. Professor Jeff Hall said he is confident in his team, heading into the home rodeo.
“I feel real good going into to the home rodeo,” Hall said.
– megan.bodi@aggiemail.usu.edu