MARSHALL, Mo. – The 2023-24 Ozark Region rodeo schedule officially kicked off over the weekend at Missouri Valley College as the University of Tennessee at Martin squads each came home with top-three team finishes.
The Skyhawk women’s team earned a runner-up finish after accumulating 255 points, which ranked only behind West Alabama’s 440 points. The UT Martin men’s squad dialed up 230 points, which was the third-highest tally behind Missouri Valley College (855) and Northwest Mississippi Community College (405).
Clint Southworth and Caden Ussery each recorded points in all three phases of calf roping. Southworth placed second in average (25.1) after finishing third in both the opening round (11.8) and in the short go (13.3). Ussery’s Skyhawk debut resulted in a third-place performance in average (25.6) and fourth-place efforts in both the first go (13.6) and short round (13.6).
On the women’s side, Leah Pitts had a successful season opener as the junior from Gallatin, Tenn. finished second in the breakaway roping event. Her 5.6 average was the second-best time after splitting second in the opening round (2.6) and splitting third in the short go (3.0).
Anna Wilder accrued points in three events in her collegiate debut, starting with goat tying. The Millington, Tenn. native placed fifth in the opening round with a time of 7.5 seconds before placing sixth in the short go (10.6 seconds). She joined forces with her sister – UT Martin senior Emma Kate Wilder – to finish third in both average (19.8 seconds) and in the short round (11.5) of team roping. Anna then capped off a productive weekend with points in all three phases of barrel racing, splitting third in the opening go (14.92) before splitting fifth in the short round (16.05) and average (30.97).
Two more Skyhawk cowgirls chipped in with points in barrel racing. Madde Shelton finished third with a 30.42 average while coming in second in the short round with a time of 15.33 seconds. Allie Maxwell additionally split third in the opening go (14.92), split fifth in the second round (16.05) and split fifth in average (30.97).
UT Martin returns to action next week when it travels to Livingston, Ala. for a rodeo hosted by West Alabama on Sept. 28-30.
