October 23, 2017 - The Panola College Rodeo Team traveled to Pittsburg, Texas, on the 19th thru the 21st of October for the 3rd NIRA Southern Region Rodeo, and wow what a rodeo.
The Panola College men’s team had an amazing rodeo and won first for the first time this season. Panola has had a great year and has finished 2nd in the first two rodeos. The win at Pittsburg pushed the men’s team into the number one spot for the Southern Region. Panola College Rodeo Coach, Jeffrey Collins said, “We still have a very long season with a lot of tough programs in it, but we are right where we need to be and quit honestly where we deserve to be. We plan to stay on the same grind we have been on, looking ahead and taking it one rodeo at a time. First we are going to be our best, than we will be first. Sometimes I see programs take their foot of the gas, we will not.”
Sophomore, Logan Cook, lead the men’s team to victory with his 3rd win in a row in the Saddlebronc Riding. Logan scored 71 points for the win, and moved into a commanding lead in the region. Logan finished 7th in the nation last year, and is looking like he is not satisfied with that position. Cook was not done there, he and his partner Colton Johnson, knocked out a very good run in the team roping of 6.2 seconds for a 7th place finish. Logan is a rare multi-event man that works both the timed event end of the arena and the rough stock end; he is still in the top ten in the region in the calf roping as well. Logan is an Alto, TX cowboy who is working on a Ranch and Land Management degree.
Panola bull riders are on fire, Boudreaux Campbell and Koby Radley shook things up in their event. Boudreaux won the bull riding with an 82 point score, making this his second rodeo win in a row, and moving him to the number one position in the Southern Region. Koby scored 81 points for a 2nd place win, and moving him to the number 2 position in the region. Both Campbell and Radley are very talented young men; they both compete professionally, and are expected to be a very big threat for national titles. Boudreaux qualified for the NFR this December and is currently ranked 14th in the world, he will be shooting for his first world title while he is still in college. Check your cable television for NFR air times.
Travis Chapman and Tyler Johnson did their part for the Ponies by scoring 72 points each in the Bareback Riding. The two young men have placed at every rodeo this year and are a big impact on the team’s victory. The 5th place finish for both men moves them into a top spots in the regional standings. Travis moved to 2nd in the standings while Tyler moved to 4th position. The top 3 individuals in the region in each event move on to the College National Finals, both have their goals set of being the number one man in the region and qualifying for the CNFR.
The Ponies and Fillies will be in action again this weekend at Lake Charles, La. for the 4th rodeo.
