{"id":6198,"date":"2017-05-16T13:44:20","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T18:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/?p=6198"},"modified":"2017-05-16T13:44:20","modified_gmt":"2017-05-16T18:44:20","slug":"sau-rodeo-ropes-another-run-college-national-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/2017\/sau-rodeo-ropes-another-run-college-national-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"SAU Rodeo ropes another run to College National Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Southern Arkansas University Rodeo has enjoyed another outstanding year. The team will send seven members to the College National Finals in Casper, Wyo., in June. Michaela Caudle, Ashton Glascock, Hannah Springer, Jacie Sullivan, Cooper Lee, Britt Driggers and West Smith will represent the University at the competitive event, Rusty Hayes, rodeo coach, said.<\/p>\n

The Women\u2019s Team finished 2016-2017 as the Reserve Champions of the Ozark Region while the Men\u2019s Team placed third in the Region. Individually, Springer won the Ozark Region Breakaway Roper Title and Sullivan the regional Goat Tying title. Caudle is the No. 3 breakaway roper and Glascock placed among the Top 10 in breakaway roping and goat tying.<\/p>\n

Lee is the Ozark Region Reserve Champion Team Roping Header with Driggers the No. 3 steer wrestler and Smith the No. 3 calf roper.<\/p>\n

Caudle, Driggers and Glascock spoke about their experiences in rodeo and their expectations of the Finals. Hayes called this year\u2019s team \u201csome of the strongest competitors I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glascock, a junior from Ashland, Mo., said she has been roping since the age of 10. \u201cMy dad roped and though I didn\u2019t like the whole \u2018horse thing\u2019 at first, I grew into it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She chose SAU once she learned of its state-of-the-art rodeo facilities. \u201cIt was very convincing,\u201d she said. \u201cNot many places have facilities like Story Arena. It is the top of the line, and I knew the program had the full support of the University. It made me want to go to school far from home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caudle, a sophomore from Horatio, Ark., said she started roping at age 12. Her father, Jason Caudle, participated in rodeo at SAU in the 1990s. \u201cDad got me into roping,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a family tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driggers, a junior from Hot Springs, Ark., also has a family connection to SAU Rodeo. His father, Jimmy, participated at roughly the same time as Caudle\u2019s father. That connection, plus the program\u2019s reputation, brought him to Magnolia.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not surprised they\u2019ve reached this level of competitiveness,\u201d Hayes said of the team. \u201cWe\u2019re never satisfied. We\u2019re always looking to improve our skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each member has had to work hard to be successful in rodeo and academics. \u201cWe\u2019re known as a smart team,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cHistorically, I go for the more academic students, but I also look at character and ability.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to balance rodeo with academics and social life,\u201d Glascock said. \u201cThe top competitors are very successful in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNinety percent of this team is on academic scholarship,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWe have 40 students on our team and that\u2019s a good number for us. By focusing on academics, we are more selective with our open spots and I think that gives us more of an edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayes has been rodeo coach since he started at SAU in 2005 and has won two Individual Championships so far. SAU Rodeo won the national title in Hayes\u2019 fourth year in the program. \u201cWe\u2019ve won four top 10 team finishes, and I can\u2019t keep count of all the third- and fourth-place finishes,\u201d he said. This will be his 12th trip to the College Finals.<\/p>\n

The students said they\u2019ll prepare for the Finals in different ways, but mostly by going back to their roots. \u201cI\u2019m going home and letting my dad chew on me,\u201d Glascock said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely crunch time. You have to re-hone your skills and compete at a faster level. You want to stay consistent and rope every calf to win the average.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be going home and practicing,\u201d Driggers said.<\/p>\n

They described their horses as athletes and stressed the importance of riding every day to keep their horses in shape. \u201cThey have to be in top condition,\u201d Caudle said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou practice riding them and exercise them,\u201d Driggers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like track,\u201d Glascock said. \u201cWe trot our horses, get them able to run.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of our stuff is muscle memory,\u201d Caudle added. \u201cYou have to get it right in practice. In breakaway, we\u2019ll have a little calf, and we\u2019ll rope it and rope it. Most of the time, ideally, you need to do that in less than three seconds \u2013 you don\u2019t have time to think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During practice, Hayes said, ropers \u201creinforce that memory in each muscle.\u201d<\/p>\n

They will have to be well-prepared. \u201cIt\u2019s a dogfight,\u201d Caudle said of College Finals. \u201cEverybody deserves to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all the best,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI\u2019d say that when I\u2019m up there, I\u2019m more nervous during that week than I am the rest of the year combined. You\u2019ve got 11 regions and the top three out of every event. It gets pretty intense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a vacation,\u201d Glascock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt depends on what stock you draw,\u201d Caudle said of roping success. \u201cIf you\u2019re breakaway, you\u2019ve got to draw a calf that runs straight, not too fast, not too slow. You never know 100 percent what it\u2019s going to do until it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they draw the right stock \u2013 the right steer, the right calf \u2013 then I\u2019m very confident in what this team can do,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cEspecially these girls, and all three guys are very capable of winning. It\u2019s just very intense up there, and exciting, especially toward the end of the week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each team member will take his or her own horse and equipment to Wyoming. \u201cWe\u2019ll all leave from different places,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cIt can take 24 hours to drive up there. They\u2019ll be taking their own horses, their own trucks and trailers \u2013 all that\u2019s their personal stuff. We\u2019ll drive 1,300 miles through every kind of weather. You worry about motors and bearings and everything else that can go wrong between here and Casper. You never know what you\u2019re gonna hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glascock said it can be hard on the horses making the journey. \u201cYou put down a lot of shavings for them to stand on for 10-12 hours a day. You\u2019ve got to stop every so many hours to get them out and walk them, you have to make sure they stay hydrated. You can\u2019t drive like you normally would, you\u2019ve got to go easy on the brakes, take curves at certain speeds. Sometimes other people don\u2019t respect that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayes said winning another national title would shed more light on the SAU program. \u201cIt helps us recruit more quality kids and just makes everyone proud. Generations know about our program; it really is a tradition for a lot of families.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each student commended SAU for having Story Arena to offer its rodeo students. \u201cYou can practice any time you want, and I think that\u2019s the reason we\u2019re so good,\u201d Driggers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys will be out here until midnight,\u201d Glascock said. \u201cThat\u2019s what it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a luxury,\u201d Caudle said. \u201cNinety percent of kids don\u2019t have anything close to this to practice in. It\u2019s a huge draw.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a completely different program now than when I started,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWe had only one barn. When past team members see what we have now, they can\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the arena is not only good for SAU but Magnolia, as well, drawing thousands of visitors annually. \u201cIt is a boon for us. I know the restaurants like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said that when he started in SAU\u2019s rodeo program, there were only 14 students. \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from 14 to 40 and it would be bigger than that if I would let it. The costs are much higher for trucks, trailers, horses, transportation, but the quality of our athletes is also much higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

The program remains one of the most diverse on campus, he said. \u201cWe are recruiting nationwide. We\u2019ve had kids here from 38 states and a Canadian province. We have them from California, Hawaii, Indiana, Missouri and Alabama.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another trip to the College Finals will bring more exposure. \u201cIt\u2019s not just an American sport,\u201d Glascock said. \u201cIt\u2019s big in Australia, Canada and Brazil. I\u2019ve met so many kids from around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each student recounted his or her most memorable rodeo event. For Caudle, it was a seventh-grade appearance in the county fair. \u201cEverybody came out to see me rope, and everybody knew me,\u201d she said, laughing. \u201cI was as nervous as all get-out. I\u2019d be embarrassed in front of all of Sevier County if I missed this calf! But I roped it and won the rodeo, and the crowd went insane. To this day, that was the happiest I\u2019ve been and the biggest night of my life. I was 13 years old. Nothing else has measured up.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Driggers, it was winning the steer wrestling competition at the University of Tennessee-Martin, at a rodeo \u201cthat is probably the biggest in the Ozark Region \u2013 2,000 or so people and it was really, really loud,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Glascock said she was proudest of winning Reserve All Around in high school, \u201cbut I\u2019m really proud of our Women\u2019s Team. We\u2019ve gotten really close and pushed each other to be better. We\u2019ve won five out of ten rodeos and that feels great. We\u2019ve stuck together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caudle is majoring in Agriculture Science-Pre Vet. Driggers is a senior Agriculture Business major. Glascock is a senior English major pursuing a minor in Education. Springer, of Lavaca, Ark., is a senior Agriculture Business major. Smith is a native of Emmet, Ark., and is a Business major. Sullivan, of Mount Vernon, Ark., is a junior Psychology major. Lee is a native of Quitman, Ark., and is a sophomore majoring in Agriculture Science-Pre Vet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Arkansas University Rodeo has enjoyed another outstanding year. The team will send seven members to the College National Finals in Casper, Wyo., in June. Michaela Caudle, Ashton Glascock, Hannah Springer, Jacie Sullivan, Cooper Lee, Britt Driggers and West Smith will represent the University at the competitive event, Rusty Hayes, rodeo coach, said. The Women\u2019s… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":564,"featured_media":6199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","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":[92,7753,195],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6198","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-athletics","8":"category-homepage","9":"category-rodeo","10":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6198","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\/564"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6198"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6198\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}