Rodeo Sends 3 to the Short Round in Portales

The Thunderbirds had a successful weekend in Portales, NM at the first rodeo of the year. 

The ENMU rodeo encountered all types of weather with rain, wind, and lightning causing delays on the final day of the first rodeo of the 2024-25 season. 

On the women's side, Macye Maben was fourth in average at 6.4 seconds in the breakaway roping this week. Maben earned sixth in the Long Round with a time of 2.5 seconds and was fourth in the Short Round at 3.9 seconds. The Spur, Texas native scored 10 points in the Long Round, 30 points in the Short Round, and 30 points in the average for a total of 70 points. Maben is currently tied at No. 4 in the Southwest Region breakaway roping standings. 

Quincy Montoya tied for eighth with a goat tying time of 8.1 seconds in the Long Round. Montoya's Short Round was 12.8 seconds, which moved her into 10th place in the Short Round and 10th place in average.   

"I was very proud of our first 2024 showing at ENMU," women's rodeo head coach Alexa Wilcox said. "Our freshmen proved they can compete at this next level, seeing as we had two in the Short Round and one just out in the breakaway roping. Sophomore Codi Reed also had a strong weekend, being just one place out of the Short Round in the goat tying. Several of our other girls made good runs in the breakaway but caught the barrier, and we had some ground trouble in the barrel racing."

"I expect the team to correct those mistakes this weekend and anticipate improvements at Sul Ross. It's a fun and exciting time for T-Bird Rodeo as our team is full of winners - I'm looking forward to seeing how they show that this weekend in Alpine!"

On the men's side, Connor Box and former T-Bird Tanner Lockie (ENMU) finished tied for second in the Short Round team roping at 6.4 seconds. Box earned 45 points for the Thunderbirds in the Short Round and no timed in the Long Round to finish seventh in average. The finish put the men's team on the board in 13th place in the Southwest Region Standings.

"Portales was a pretty good weekend for our team," men's rodeo head coach Stewy Kinley said. "Sophomore Connor Box led the team with a 2nd place finish in the first round of the team roping and was 7th place in the average. Connor's a great leader and a hardworking guy. He's all cowboy. He doesn't say a lot but he gets the job done. We're looking for big things out of him this year."

"Connor's entered in the team roping this year with former T-Bird and NMJC graduate Tanner Lockie. It was good to see these guys win together. Tanner's moved on to further his education at ENMU in Portales but we still claim him as one of our own!" 

The team this year is one of the biggest the men have had in recent years and Coach Kinley expects great things out of them throughout the rest of the season. 

"We've got a lot of talent and they'll have a better weekend this weekend down at Sul Ross State University," Kinley said. "We usually do well down there in Alpine with our guys."

The Thunderbirds next rodeo will be Sept. 26-28 at the Sul Ross State Rodeo in Alpine, Texas.