MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin finished first and third in its 42nd Annual Spring College Rodeo, April 15-17, at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex on campus. The UT Martin women won the team title with 345 points, while the UT Martin men finished third in the team standings with 545 points.

With one regular season Ozark Region rodeo left on the schedule, this week at the University of Arkansas-Monticello, UT Martin's men are second in the region with 4,980 points. Missouri Valley College leads the region with 7,855 points.

Mathematically it is impossible for UT Martin to win the region or fall to third. By virtue of scoring 545 points at its own rodeo, UT Martin has earned a berth in the College National Finals Rodeo as the Ozark Region's second-place finisher.

On the women's side, UT Martin can win the Ozark Region title with a top-four finish this week at Arkansas-Monticello. The women will enter this week's rodeo with a 586-point advantage over third-place Southern Arkansas University.

"We are going to worry about ourselves and see what we can do," UT Martin head rodeo coach John Luthi said.
Senior Jeff Askey won the bull riding competition at the UT Martin rodeo with his 77-point ride on Snake Eyes in Thursday night's performance. Askey was the only contestant to get a score in the bull riding.

In the steer wrestling, UT Martin's Seth McDaniel was second in the average. He won the second round with a 4.7-run. Jordan Thrasher was fifth in the steer wrestling average. Thrasher finished second in the calf roping average. He was second in the first round with a 9.5-run. He was third in the second round and had a total time of 20.8 on two runs.

UT Martin's Josh Chase won the bareback average with 146 on two rides. Chase won the first round with a 76-point ride. He split second and third in the second round with a 70-point ride.
Evan Alley finished fourth in the first round of the saddle bronc competition with a 68-point ride.

On the women's side, Heather Moore won the barrel racing average with a total time of 28.49. She was second in the first round with a time of 14.20 and third in the second round with a 14.29-run.

Molly Alexander won the barrel racing first round with a 14.17 run. She was fifth in the second round with a time of 14.36. Alexander finished fourth in the average with a total time of 28.53.

Abby McDuff also picked up points in the barrel racing for UT Martin. She was sixth in the average with a total time of 28.80 on two runs.
McDuff was seventh in the goat tying average, while teammate Brittany Pratt finished sixth in the average.

"We had a good rodeo," Luthi said. "We did some good things, but we have to do some things better."


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