PORTALES, N.M. – Eastern New Mexico rodeo is off to an excellent start to the 2025-26 season as the men's program finished fifth and the women's program took second at the College "Daze" Rodeo.
"I was proud that we had the champion goat tier and two reserve champions for the boys," said head coach
John Sharp. "We want to reach the highest level of competition over the next nine rodeos and continue to give ourselves a chance to win. We are encouraged with the future outlook for the team."
The top finish for Greyhound women's rodeo came in goat tying as
Mackinzee Dermody blazed past the field of 37 competitors in both rounds. Dermody boasted the fastest time in both the long round (7.7s) and short round (7.8s). Her 15.5s average earned her an additional 60 points. The graduate transfer from Texas Tech earned 180 of 203.30 total points for ENMU.
The other 23.30 points also came in goat tying as
Shaeden Marr split 6/7/8 in the long round for 3.30 points to make it back to Saturday night competition. In the short go, she posted a 9.6s time earning an additional ten points in both the round and average.
Harlee Barela had an impressive weekend in barrels with times of 17.44s (long) and 17.59s (short). Barela was one spot out from earning team points for the Hounds.
Breakaway was one of the toughest fields with 97 cowgirls competing in Portales this weekend.
Addison Walton was the only Hound to make it back as she split 9/10 with a 3.5s time in the long go.
On the men's side, they finished fifth in a tight competition separating second through fifth by just 45 points.
In tie down roping, two Greyhounds made it back. Returner
Bowdy Neece split 4/5 with an 11.1s time in the first go. He ended up taking second place in the short round with a 10.6s run. His 21.7s average earned him an additional 50 points. The other cowboy to make it back was
Cutter Pareo who split 1/2 in the long round with a 10.1s time and scored 55 total points. In the event alone, Eastern finished with 180 points.
Steer wrestling was another event where the program had two make it to Saturday night finals.
Jacob Walters had a nice debut for ENMU with a 9.8s run in the first go to take fourth and earned a third-place nod in the short go with a 6.8s time. In the average, he placed fifth with a 16.6s total. Overall, he finished with 120 points for the team.
Duncan Adamson made it back with the ninth quickest time in steer wrestling, but did not secure points for the team score.
Walters also made it back in team roping where he came in ninth with a 10.9s run in the first go. He followed that with a 11.6s run in the short go for 30 points and added an additional ten points with the average.
Eastern New Mexico rodeo will be back in action this weekend (Sept. 25-27) at the Frank Phillips College rodeo in Canadian, Texas. For additional information, please follow the team on Facebook and Instagram at ENMU Rodeo.
