Mesalands saves best for last

It didn't win a title, but Mesalands Community College saved its best for last during the finals Saturday night of the Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Rodeo at the Quay County Fairgrounds in Tucumcari.

That's when Mesalands bull rider Levi Gray, projected as a future star in the professional circuit, had the last and best ride of the night, drawing cheers from the grandstand and a high score of 85 points.

Gray, who hails from Dairy, Oregon, said he was confident he could get a full eight-second ride on the animal.

"He'd been at the Turquoise Circuit Finals for the pro rodeo," Gray said of the bull he conquered. "I knew he was good; I just had to be a little bit better and do what I do at practice. It paid off."

Gray didn't take home the championship buckle because he'd suffered a misfortune with his bull rope Friday and was thrown.

"I had a rough go at it last night," he said. "My rope kinda gave out on me, and it didn't turn out the way I wanted to. So it was good to finish strong tonight."

Gray still finished second overall because there were few successful bull rides during the weekend.

Three other Mesalands bull riders - Vinell Mariano, Roy Jackson and Dawson Stutting - were bucked off during Saturday night's finals.

Another Mesalands athlete, Hiyo Yazzie, advanced to the finals in three events - team roping, tie-down roping and steer wrestling - but came up empty for a title. His best finish was third overall in tie-down roping.

Bareback bronc rider AJ Kee and team roper Michael Lucero also advanced to the finals but didn't earn hardware.

Mesalands coach Matt Hughes didn't judge his team by its fourth-place finish or the number of titles it took home Saturday. He instead took a long view.

"I'm as competitive as anybody, but the whole reason I'm here is to see people get better," he said. "To me, it's been a success because every single rodeo we've been to, we've gotten better. If we put the hours in, at the end of the season, we'll be sitting where we deserve to sit."

Hughes said he also was gratified by the compliments his team received helping run the rodeo.

"It means a lot when I had several students from other colleges come up to me and compliment my team on how hard they worked," he said. "I told my team, 'That means you did something obvious for the other kids to notice.' That means the team was working its butt off all night."

The Grand Canyon Region includes 10 college rodeo teams from New Mexico and Arizona.

Winners at the Grand Canyon Region Intercollegiate Rodeo:

• Tie-down roping: Jared Todacheenie, Northland Pioneer College

• Team roping: Clay Elkington and Cody Burnside, Central Arizona College

• Barrel racing: Amy Bowditch, New Mexico State University

• Goat tying: Maddee Doer, Cochise College

• Breakaway roping: Halle DeWitt, University of Arizona

• Bareback bronc riding: Dylan Riggins, New Mexico State University

• Saddle bronc riding: Ben Anderson, Chocise College

• Steer wrestling: Ryan Nez, San Juan College

• Bull riding: Justin Neill, New Mexico State University

• Women's all around: Halle DeWitt, University of Arizona

• Men's all around: Dawson Lackey, Central Arizona College