Montoya Qualfies for CNFR at SPC Rodeo

Quincy Montoya qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo Saturday, April 25 by winning the Caprock Region All-Around title. This is the T-Birds first female athlete headed to Casper, WY in 11 years.

Montoya tied for third in the Long Round of the goat tying at the SPC Rodeo with a time of 6.6 seconds. She earned 35 points for the run. She took fifth in the Short Round with a time of 7.6 seconds for 20 points and was also fifth in average for an additional 20 points. The sophomore ended the rodeo with 75 total points.

Montoya won the Caprock Region All-Around title this weekend with a grand total of 755 points. The finish was 170 points in front of second place. The win automatically qualifies her for the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, WY which takes place in June.

"There are truly no words for the excitement and pride I have for Q," NMJC women's rodeo head coach Alexa Wilcox said. "She simply took care of business at every turn and grew so much as a competitor and as a person. No one can question if she worked for it or put her time in because she absolutely did. She was the quiet leader of our team, proving herself through her actions day in and day out. She is absolutely irreplaceable and deserves every award and win headed her way." 

Bella King made her second breakaway roping Short Round of the season on Saturday. The sophomore tied for fourth place in the Long Round with a time of 2.6 seconds, earning her 20 points. King was a 2.9 in the short go earning her fourth place honors and 30 points. She tied for third place in the average adding 35 points which brought her SPC Rodeo total to 85 points this weekend.   

"I am very proud of Bella for overcoming all she's faced this year to finish strong," Coach Wilcox said. "We always knew she could do it, and I'm glad she finally proved it to herself." 

Coach Wilcox is in year three as head coach of the women's rodeo team and has helped guide the T-Birds to their first CNFR qualifier since Kellie B Collier made it in the barrel racing in 2015.

"It renders me speechless to say we finally have a women's team contender at the College Finals," Coach Wilcox said. "Obviously, this has always been the goal and it's special to me that Quincy gets to do it in two events. We have a lot of talent on the team and expected more of our team to be going to Casper, but this region is tough and it didn't work out like we hoped. Regardless, Quincy has put in the work and the time, and I can't wait to see what she does." 

The Thunderbirds finish the inaugural season of the Caprock Region in sixth place with 1,433.33 points.

"The region split allowed us to give every student athlete a fair chance at competing - you can see that in the results," Coach Wilcox said. "Our new region is one of the younger regions in the nation (majority freshmen and sophomores), yet we still competed at a high level in a variety of set ups. I'm excited to watch it grow and to see NMJC establish our foothold as competitors along with it." 

Montoya will compete at the College National Final Rodeo in Casper, WY starting June 15.