Northern Rodeo qualifies two for upcoming CNFR

After starting the season back in September, the Montana State University-Northern rodeo team finally finished their season this past weekend.

The women’s rodeo team capped off a strong season as they finished third in the Big Sky Region with 1,243.33 total points. Meanwhile, the MSU-N men’s rodeo team finished sixth in the Big Sky with 1,155 points scored on the season. Both the men’s and women’s teams of Montana State University finished first in the standings.

Northern competed against six other schools in the Big Sky. Along with Montana State University, they competed against the University of Montana-Western, Northwest College, Miles Community College, University of Montana and Dawson Community College. The Lights and Skylights began their season last fall when they competed against Northwest, UM, and Dawson. They then returned this April where they faced off with MSU, Miles, UM and the University of Providence.

While the MSU-N women’s team did not have any individuals in the top three of an event, they were carried by steady performances in many events. In breakaway roping, in her senior season, Callahan Otoupalik finished sixth with a score of 330 points and behind her in seventh place was sophomore Mikenna Schauer with 327.5 points.

The Skylights also had some strong performances from seniors in goat tying this past season. Jayne Keeley finished eighth in the standings this season with a score of 195 points and Kassidy Williamson scored 137.5 points to finish 10th. In barrel racing, freshman Kristyn Kittson finished 11th with 160 points and Elli Linder finished 12th with 132 points.

Even though the MSU-N men’s team had a low finish in the region, they still had some strong individual performances this past season. Freshman Rope Three Irons had the best finish for the Lights this season as he finished first in the team roping header with 620 total points on the season. In his senior season, Treygan Olson also competed in the team roping harder this season where he finished in eighth place with 280 points. Senior Kolby Kittson also finished his career at MSU-N by finishing 10th in saddle bronc riding with a total of 50 points.

Three Irons and Williamson have both qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo, which will be held in June in Casper, Wyoming.