Panola College Rodeo Team was in Athens, Texas, the 9th and 10th to kick off the second half of the NIRA rodeo season. The Men's Team held on to the lead in the Southern Region, as well as finished 1st as a Men's Team for the rodeo. Here are the results for athletes:
Tyler Johnson competed in the bareback riding and made an outstanding ride with a score of 81 points to place him 1st in the short go. Night number two, Johnson put on another show for 83 points and earning a 1st place finish once again. Johnson, was the 2019 Bareback Riding Average winner. With this accomplished, he moved himself to the number one spot in the Southern Region for the bareback riding event.
All-around cowboy, Daylon Swearingen, competed in the Bull Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, and Bareback Riding earning points in each event. Performing at his first NIRA rodeo, Swearingen, left his mark on Round 1 with an 80 point ride in the bull riding. He was able to win the average in the Bull Riding after competing his best at the TVCC Rodeo. In the Saddle Bronc Riding event, Swearingen, placed 4th in the first go and ended the weekend also placing 4th in the average. Swearingen, split 5th with 72 points in the Bareback Riding with Panola College Rodeo Team teammate.
Clayton Lowry, and his team roping partner were able to rope with the fastest time being 5.9 seconds in Round One of the TVCC rodeo, and with this run they took 1st place for that round. As the Long Round was wrapped up, Lowry and his partner made another run to be proud of with the time of 6.6 seconds and landing them 2nd in the final round. With fast runs, and high placings, Lowry and partner, were crowned 2019 Team Roping Average Winners. Panola College Rodeo Team showed up to dominate the Team Roping event as Evan Green and Blake Griffin, made a fiery run with the time of 6.4 seconds in Round One, placing 2nd. The Panola Ponies didn't stop there competing to win the Final Round, they did just that with the time of 6.1 seconds. Green and Griffin put in the hard work to accomplish this goal and it paid off winning 2nd in the average.
As we look back at the Bareback Riding, a name we are familiar with Travis Chapman, showed up in Athens, Texas to spur his bucking horse for 79 points in the First Round going into the Short Go with a 2nd place title. Wrapping up the Final Round, Chapman, split 5th with another Panola Pony, scoring 72 points. Chapman, made Panola College proud as he finished 4th in the average in the Bareback Riding event.
Logan Cook, former CNFR qualifier, competed in the Saddle Bronc Riding and Tie-Down Roping events this weekend. As Cook always comes to do, he set the bar high and made a 69 point spur ride, placing himself 3rd in the long round. Coming back to the short round, Cook was determined to top his abilities from the First Round, he made a show stopping ride with a score of 82 points and earning 1st place. To wrap up the Saddle Bronc Riding event, Cook placed 2nd in the average. In the tie down roping event, Cook took 5th place in the First Round with a 9.4 second run, but he didn't stop there. As the Final Round played out, Cook, was an 11 seconds flat to be 4th in the round. Cook's accomplishments over the two rounds, landed him splitting 3rd and 4th in the average.
Panola Ponies Rodeo Team Members Maison Davis of Kilgore, Texas and Abbie Muckelroy of Center, Texas had two outstanding runs in the barrel racing event. With this accomplishment, both ladies qualified to compete in the Short Go of the TVCC Rodeo.
The Ponies will be back in action February 23rd and 24th in Kingsville, Texas.