BOZEMAN — Montana State rodeo wrapped up its regular season earlier this month, clinching both the men and women’s Big Sky Region championships, but the Bobcats aren't done just yet.
They'll be sending 15 men and women to the College National Finals Rodeo next month in Casper, Wyoming:
- Ethan Frasier
- Clancy Glenn
- Jake Faulkner
- Cody Faulkner
- Jaret Whitman
- Caleb Berquist
- Kolby Currin
- Levi Delamarter
- Teegan Leno
- Shai McDonald
- Lindsey Pulsipher
- Paige Rasmussen
- Hailey Garrison
- Samantha Kerns
- Tayla Moeykens
“We had a really good spring," Bobcats head rodeo coach Andy Bolich said. "It kind of got off to a little rocky start with the weather at Bozeman, but the students had an awesome rodeo that weekend, and then they just kept it rolling.”
On the men’s side, four Bobcats finished on top of the leaderboard for the all-around scores with Jaret Whitman coming in first with more than 1,400 points.
And to no surprise, Montana State was well-represented on the women’s side with three Bobcats leading the way.
“That shows right there the kind of dominance of why our team won," Bolich explained. "Those guys right there racked up a lot of points, and then on the women’s side, they’re all across the board - good goat tyers, the breakaway, they’ve got the barrel horses. Then on the men’s side, Jaret’s a three-event cowboy, and he qualified in two to the finals. Since he won the all-around, he’ll take the steer wrestling as well.”
While 15 Bobcats are headed to CNFR next month, they can only pick 10 to contribute to their overall team score, which Bolich said is a good problem to have.
"We have a lot of great athletes for sure, and one of the biggest things is the depth," Bolich added. "We can only count a certain amount for our points team, but there are so many other good kids on the team as well that are racking up points and kind of running block for other schools. We’re just really hard to get around across the board.”
Over the next few weeks, Montana State’s qualified athletes will be individually competing in different rodeos across the country, all preparing for Casper next month.
“I’m just excited for everybody to get there and get a chance and actually go back to Casper this year after last year getting canceled sort of last minute," Bolich said. "That was obviously a low point for everybody’s morale on the rodeo circuit that had been looking forward to that thing all year long. I think everybody that goes there this year will be super grateful to have it.”
CNFR is a weeklong event, which kicks off June 13 in Casper, Wyoming.
