PORTALES, N.M. – The spring slate of the 2025-26 rodeo season is upon us! Eastern New Mexico rodeo is headed to Odessa, Texas for three days of competition hosted by Odessa College at the Ector County Coliseum. Before the rodeo begins, please take a look at the Three Barrel Preview:
1.) In The Region: Eastern New Mexico finished the fall rodeo season in fourth place in both the men's and women's standings. The Caprock region consists of 10 teams after the southwest region split prior to the start of the 2025-26 campaign. The men's program boasts 1500 overall points to stand in fourth overall. The top three men's teams in the region are Clarendon (3725), Western Texas (2195), and Texas Tech (1985). The women's side sits in fourth with 708.66 overall points. The top three schools in the region are South Plains (955.33), Texas Tech (805), and Odessa (735).
2.) Athletes to Watch: Greyhounds are well represented in the individual rankings in various events. Eastern has three cowboys in the top 15 in tie down roping. They are
Jacob Walters (215),
Cutter Pareo (180), and
Bowdy Neece (175). Two Hounds,
Jacob Walters (345) and
Orran Hart (115) are in the top 10 in steer wrestling. Walters is the top rated team roping header with 470 points – 180 points ahead of the next closest competitor.
Ali Terry is tied for 15th in barrels with 40 points.
Mackinzee Dermody (458.3) and
Shaeden Marr (163.3) rank in the top 10 in goat tying in the region.
3.) Fun Notes: Performances will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday and Friday night. Slack will take place at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday morning. The short go is set for 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Team roping will be a fun event to keep an eye on for Eastern New Mexico as two Greyhound teams will compete Friday morning, one in the Friday performance, and two will have representation during Saturday morning's slack. Four ENMU student-athletes will compete in tie down this weekend. Barrels and breakaway will be busy events for ENMU with six expected to run in both events. Finally, three cowgirls are entered in goat tying. All three performances can be viewed on the Cowboy Channel (
https://www.cowboychannelplus.com/Live) and slack will be available on Odessa College's streaming platform (
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/odessacollege/).
