Men Win Fourth Straight Rodeo

February 27, 2006

Manhatten, KS - The Southwestern Oklahoma State men’s rodeo team picked up where it left off last semester with an impressive first-place finish at the Kansas State Collegiate Rodeo. The Bulldogs, the top-ranked team in the Central Plains Region, won their fourth straight rodeo collecting 560 points at the KSU competition and widening their already substantial lead in the team standings.

Bandy Murphy again was the high-point scorer for the Bulldogs winning the saddle bronc event, finishing second in the bull riding and tying for second in bareback riding. Murphy, a Punta Gorda, Fla, senior, won the all-around cowboy title for the second time this year. He earlier won the all-around award in the season’s first rodeo at Pratt.

In addition to Murphy, SWOSU got a first-place showing in calf roping courtesy of Tony Sauter (Blanchard, Sr.) who used an event-best time of 8.8 seconds in the short round to win the average.

SWOSU also got solid efforts by Paul Gavin (Monmouth, Ill., Jr.) who finished in two-way tie for fifth in the bull riding competition and Steven Smith (Adrian, Mo., Sr.) who finished in the top 10 in bareback riding.

Finishing second in the team competition behind SWOSU’s 560-point, first-place total was Garden City Community College in second with 390 points and Colby Community College in third with 375 points.

The SWOSU men will compete at the Garden City Community College Rodeo beginning March 3 in Garden City, Kan.