CASPER, WY – The Laramie County Community College rodeo team had three more runs on Tuesday in the final slack rounds at the College National Finals Rodeo with Rayne Grant, Kassidy Dunagan, and Reece Wadhams making appearances in barrel racing, goat tying, and team roping.
The morning started off on a great foot in barrel racing where Grant bested her time in the first go with a 14.10. Her time was good for third in the go, earning the Golden Eagle 60 points in the national standings.
“Rayne came back this morning and made a smoking run in the barrel race and she’s setting really good,” Head Coach Dean Finnerty said. “She’s worked her but off for this and it’s fun to watch. She’s getting better every day and really doing well.”
Her times paired together moved her from ninth to fifth in the average standings with a time of 28.37. The lead time of the rodeo is currently held by Taycie Matthews of West Alabama who set the pace with a pair of sub-14 second runs for a 27.74 for the fastest time.
Grant also saw her standings in breakaway improve. Her 2.2 from yesterday’s slack round held up for the sixth fastest time of the second go.
Grant is second in terms of athletes that have only caught one calf, giving her a slight window to make it back on Saturday if things break her way.
The total points from the two rounds give the Wheatland, Wyoming native 85 points in the race for the all-around title and now have her set as the top points earner for women’s rodeo in recent LCCC history.
Dunagan was also able to improve on her time from the first go in goat tying, posting a 7.2 in her second attempt and now sits at 14.6 in the average.
“My run started out good,” Dunagan said. “I was kind of thrown for a loop coming out of the alleyway, but my horse stayed honest and true and got me to the goat quick and I was able to work on some groundwork.”
Dunagan is currently in 20th in the average and is a little less than a second out of the top 12 who would make it back to Saturday.
“It’s cool to see that progression and it gives her more confidence for next year when it gets tougher and tougher and lead the way for the team,” Finnerty said.
In team roping, Wadhams and Nutter were both able to complete the catch but caught a bit of bad luck too with a broken barrier adding ten seconds to the time of 15.6.
“It felt good to do my part,” Wadhams said. “Rio, we missed the first one so we kind of had to go at the second one so I can’t really blame him for pushing the barrier.”
The duo is still in contention after only eight teams finished both of their goes with a catch but are sitting in 28th in the average after taking 20th in the go.
“That’s our plan (still),” Wadhams said about the goal of making Saturday. “We let our hair down right there and that’s still our plan for the third round on Friday night.”
The CNFR now heads to the night performances, with action on Tuesday through Friday night to finalize the contestants in Saturday night’s championship round.
“It’s going to be loud and it’s going to be cool, but you have to take it the same as you did in the slack,” Finnerty said. “Just know you have to take care of business and do your job.”
LCCC athletes will be competing on Wednesday night with Grant and Dunagan in breakaway and goats. Grant will return on Thursday night to run her final go in barrels and Wadhams will close out the rodeo on Friday night in team roping where he will be the last one out.
For more information on the CNFR as well as for updates on LCCC athletes, be sure to visit www.golccc.com or follow along on LCCC Golden Eagles social media.