{"id":1045,"date":"2009-10-13T10:36:59","date_gmt":"2009-10-13T15:36:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.southernarkansasuniversity.info\/?p=1045"},"modified":"2009-10-13T10:36:59","modified_gmt":"2009-10-13T15:36:59","slug":"sau-mulerider-sunny-wilcox-places-second-at-pea-ridge-mule-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2009\/sau-mulerider-sunny-wilcox-places-second-at-pea-ridge-mule-jump\/","title":{"rendered":"SAU Mulerider Sunny Wilcox Places Second at Pea Ridge Mule Jump"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mulerider<\/a>Southern Arkansas University Mulerider Sunny Wilcox and the University\u2019s mule, \u201cMolly B.,\u201d finished second in the 21st annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Pea Ridge High School. The pair competed against approximately 25 mules in the amateur mule jump division.<\/p>\n

During a mule jump competition, a canvass-covered bar is positioned about three feet above the ground on an adjustable rack. Each mule handler is given two attempts and 90 seconds to have its mule jump the bar. If the mule fails to jump or knocks the bar to the ground during the jump, it is disqualified. The mules are not allowed to have a running start before jumping, and the bar is raised several inches after each round.<\/p>\n

Wilcox, a junior agriculture major from Greenbrier, Ark., is in her second year as the University\u2019s Mulerider mascot, but she had never participated in a mule jump before arriving in Pea Ridge. Molly B., on the other hand, had previously participated at the Pea Ridge Mule Jump and had no problem getting started.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know quite what to expect going in, but Molly knew what she was doing,\u201d Wilcox said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a partnership between us. Sometimes I\u2019m in the lead showing her what to do, but this time she led me.\u201d
\nWith each round, several mules were disqualified, and the competition for Wilcox and Molly B. grew even more intense. \u201cI had it imagined that we were the underdogs going in,\u201d Wilcox said. \u201cSo the fact that we weren\u2019t expecting to even come close made placing that much more exciting. It made it more of a joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the final round, Wilcox and Molly B. fell to the reigning Mule Jump champions, Jerry Nelson and \u201cBabe\u201d of Liberty, Mo. Despite several attempts, Wilcox was not able to lead Molly B. over the 56 inch jump. \u201cI think Molly had just done all she could do,\u201d she said. \u201cThat makes a really smart animal. She knew what was best for her, so we took second place and were proud to have it.\u201d<\/p>\n

SAU President Dr. David Rankin said he was proud of the success Wilcox and Molly B. found at the mule jump. \u201cOur Mulerider, Sunny Wilcox, is an outstanding ambassador for the University and we were pleased to have her and Molly B. participate in the well-known Pea Ridge Mule Jump,\u201d he said. \u201cThe ability of mules to leap over obstacles from a walking start is well known, and Molly B. has proven that she can compete with the best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Arkansas University Mulerider Sunny Wilcox and the University\u2019s mule, \u201cMolly B.,\u201d finished second in the 21st annual Pea Ridge Mule Jump on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Pea Ridge High School. The pair competed against approximately 25 mules in the amateur mule jump division. During a mule jump competition, a canvass-covered bar is positioned about… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":3635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[65,97,276,288,143],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1045","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-agriculture","8":"category-alumni","9":"category-community-corner","10":"category-regional-news","11":"category-student-life","12":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1045"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1045\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}