- News
The Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (NEO) Rodeo Team competed in Colby, Kan. in September for the first regular season National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) rodeo. Riders competed against schools in the Central Plains Region and six NEO riders earned a top-ten spot.
Cheyenne Pinkston led the women’s team with a fifth-place finish in barrel racing. Pinktson is a sophomore general studies major from Dade City, Fl. She was joined by Camrin Sellers, a sophomore agriculture business major from Cherokee, Kan., who took sixth in the event. Sophomore Addee Carter made her breakaway roping season debut with a 2.9 second first round followed by a ninth-place finish in the short round. Carter is from Miami and is a animal science major. Freshman Miranda Iager made her NEO debut in goat tying, finishing eighth. Iager comes all the way from Woodbine, Md., and is majoring in animal science. Overall, the women earned a first place finish in the two-year college division.
For the men’s team, it was all tie-down roping, With Dawson Appleton and Rio Esquibel making the short round. Appleton, a freshman agriculture business major from Copan, Okla., finished fourth, followed closely by Esquibel, a Junior Pathways Program animal science major from Edna, Kan., in sixth. The two finishes earned the NEO men a fourth place finish in the two-year college division. “This was an awesome way to start our season,” said Head Coach Kolby Ungeheuer. Having six qualify for the finals, and 4 or 5 others just missing Sunday’s finals, gives us a great start and good momentum moving forward into our next rodeo at Durant. I’m looking forward to seeing who will rise to the top and qualify for the College National Finals this year for NEO!”
The teams will compete in three more rodeos this season, heading to Durant, Okla. on September 27-29. For more information on the NEO Rodeo Program, contact Gentry Hutchison at Gentrsh@neo.edu. (Photo from left: Miranda Iager, Kolby Ungeheuer, Camrin Sellers, Dawson Appleton, Cheyenne Pinkston, Rio Esquibel, Addee Carter)
