WTAMU rodeo athletes ranked in regional standings

A pair of West Texas A&M University rodeo athletes are ranked highly in regional standings at the close of the team’s fall season.

Sierra Sharp, a junior general studies major from Happy, is ranked second in breakaway in Southwest Region standings. Kallen Johnson, a sophomore agribusiness and economics major from Happy, is ranked second in tie-down roping.

WT Rodeo’s fall season ended with the Texas Tech University Rodeo from Oct. 28 to 30 in Lubbock. The spring season will begin Feb. 24 at Odessa College.

At the Lubbock event, Sharp was first in breakaway average and Johnson was second in tie-down roping average. Teammates Hayden Cape, a senior agribusiness major from Earth, placed second in team roping average, and Annabelle Hampton, a junior agribusiness and economics major from Casa Grande, Arizona, placed fifth in goat tying average.

“I am really proud of our team this year. They have all put the work in, and they are seeing the results,” said Coach Raymond Hollabaugh. “Kallen is definitely a competitor for a title this year, and Sierra is one of the most aggressive breakaway ropers in the region and has excelled this semester. Our men’s and women’s teams have had a lot of success this semester and I look for a great turnout in the spring. I have a feeling we will be taking a big rig to the college finals this year.”

The fall schedule also included:

Eastern New Mexico University Rodeo from Sept. 16 to 18 in Portales, New Mexico: Owen Wahlert, a senior agribusiness and economics from Grover, Colorado, placed first in tie-down roping long round and first in team roping long round and fourth in average with Johnson. Johnson placed first in short-go of tie-down and first in average. Sharp placed first in breakaway long round and fourth in average. Quade Hiatt, a junior marketing major from Canyon, placed first in steer wrestling long round.

Sul Ross State University Rodeo from Sept. 23 to 25 in Alpine: Johnson placed first tie-down roping. Wahlert placed first in tie-down roping long round. Amie Hennen, a senior sports/exercise science major from Sanger, placed second in the long round of barrel racing.

Vernon College Rodeo from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Vernon: Hiatt placed second in the first round of steer wrestling. Blaine Carroll, a junior ag media and communications major from Vernon, placed fourth in the breakaway long round.

Frank Phillips College Rodeo from Oct. 7 to 9 in Canadian: Hiatt placed fifth in steer wrestling long round and fourth in tie-down roping, and Wahlert placed sixth in tie-down roping.

Cape competed in team roping in June at the College National Finals rodeo, where he narrowly missed advancing to the short-go.

The rodeo team — which boasts 26 members from around the country — has been a WT fixture for more than 25 years, with four regional champions and four CNFR qualifiers in the past five years. The team was spotlighted in “Around Texas with Chancellor John Sharp,” a new television show that airs Sundays on Panhandle PBS. The episode can be viewed online: youtu.be/4RuwcyRG9c8.