College Daze Rodeo slated for weekend

PORTALES — Each night at the College Daze Rodeo, a former championship team from Eastern New Mexico will be honored during the nightly rodeo.

And, with any luck, spectators will see a few Greyhounds trying to create their own national title opportunities.

This weekend’s College Daze Rodeo, the 54th in school history, runs Thursday through Saturday, with each session starting at 7 p.m. at ENMU’s Lewis Cooper Arena.

Albert Flinn, in his 12th season as rodeo coach at ENMU, said 17 teams from the Southwest Region will compete in the three-night event.

“It looks like Tarleton’s still loaded with thei women’s and men’s teams,” Flinn said. “I would expect Weatherford’s men’s team, Texas Tech’s women’s team and South Plains College women’s team, those would be three tough teams as well.”

Each night of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association-sanctioned event will feature the same events — bareback bronc riding, bull riding, women’s barrel racing, women’s breakaawy roping, goat tying, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, team roping and tie-down roping.

In most sports, a home meet offers something of an advantage to the home competitors. Flinn said much of the advantage is taken away by the fact the team members have done plenty of work behind the scenes this week ensuring the rodeo goes off without a hitch.

The sessions will each feature a title team from ENMU’s yesteryear. Thursday brings the 1967 women’s national championship team, Friday the men’s and women’s reserve title teams from 1968 and Saturday the 1969 men’s national champion.

“It’s pretty important for them to recognize that (team) in the beginning stages,” Flinn said. “But it’s also time for them to put together their own legacy. The girls have. It will be tough for the boys to have a team title with the makeup of contestants. We don’t have roughstock riders, and you need them to win a region. But we have quality boys. We’ve had four national champion team ropers and a third-place team roper.”