CHADRON, Neb. - Seventeen Chadron State College contestants will enter the first rodeo of the school year in the Central Rocky Mountain Region this weekend. The rodeo will be hosted by Central Wyoming College at Riverton on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The rodeo team's new coach, Shar Sapp, said 10 men and seven women will compete. CSC will have at least one entry in every event, she said.
Several of the team members placed at college rodeos last year, although none of them finished among the top three in the regional standings and qualified for the Colleges National Finals Rodeo in Casper.
Sapp said most of the contestants have been practicing since classes began in August. Seventeen broncs were recently loaned to the CSC Rodeo Club by Burch Rodeo of Gillette, although they had to be moved to Gordon after a couple of them jumped over the fences at the Dawes County Fairgrounds in Chadron.
"I'm optimistic that we'll have a good team," said Sapp. "I also plan to do a lot of recruiting so we'll be even better in the future."
Among those not competing this year is Andy Hollibaugh of Chadron, the leading scorer on last year's CSC team. A mix-up left him without a scholarship this fall, and he has decided to sit out the 2007-08 season. He said he plans to keep practicing and competing at area rodeos this year and return next year.
