By Jason Shoot
Four members of the Montana State University-Northern rodeo team are competing in the College Rodeo Championship Series in Bozeman this week for an opportunity to qualify for nationals.
Jamee Clark and Jaley Wacker are each competing in breakaway roping, and Wacker and Brandon Wood are paired together in team roping.
Clark, a Havre native, is ranked fourth in the region in breakaway roping, and Wacker is ninth.
Northern's Doug Kallenberger, who was ranked third in saddle bronc riding, is ineligible to compete after failing to stay academically eligible.
Also participating in the Bozeman rodeo are three Havre graduates competing for MSU-Bozeman Troy Solomon, Denali Solomon and Lauren Kanning.
Troy Solomon is ranked second in bareback riding and has earned an automatic berth to nationals.
Denali Solomon is ranked third in barrel racing, and Kanning is ranked sixth in breakaway roping.
Competitors who finished the regular season ranked in the top two in their respective event earned an automatic berth to nationals. Those ranked in the top 10 in events were invited to this week's rodeo in Bozeman to determine the final region berths to nationals.
In a rodeo last weekend at the University of Montana in Missoula, Wacker finished second in the average in breakaway roping. She clocked 3.6 seconds in the first-go and 3.9 in the short-go.
Competing in saddle bronc, Kallenberger was fourth in the first-go with a 71, third in the short-go with a 67 and finished third in the average.
Clark timed out at 4.1 seconds in breakaway roping and finished the short-go with a time of 2.3 seconds. However, she was issued a 10-second penalty in the short-go and finished fifth in the average.
Northern finished fourth overall in the region's year-end women's standings and placed seventh in the men's standings.
