Cal Poly Rodeo Team Advances to National Finals
Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu
Cal Poly Rodeo Team Advances to National Finals
SAN LUIS OBISPO — The Cal Poly Rodeo Team continued its winning streak at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s West Coast Regional Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo in June.
The women’s team won first place in the regional competition, with agricultural communications sophomore Katie Rice of Clements, Calif., winning the reserve all-around champion title for the West Coast Region.
Coach Ben Londo, who is in his third year of coaching the Cal Poly Rodeo Team, was also named Coach of the Year for the West Coast Region. A professional Rodeo Cowboys Association rider since 2003, Londo has amassed an admirable list of achievements, including being named a saddle bronc champion four times for the Columbia River circuit.
Student-athletes advancing to the finals on June 10-18 in Casper, Wyo., include Rice, in goat tying and breakaway roping; Colton Farquer of Oakdale, Calif., in tie-down roping; Cate Hirschy of San Luis Obispo, in breakaway roping; Kayla Nichol of Cottonwood, Calif., in barrel racing; Meghann McNulty ofSanta Maria, in barrel racing; and Wade Brown of San Luis Obispo, in bareback riding.
Cal Poly Rodeo has a strong, successful history. The program sent six men to the inaugural College National Finals Rodeo in 1949. Since then, Cal Poly Rodeo’s student athletes have gone on to win six national championships — more than any other school in the NIRA competition — and 44 national titles. The program is open to all Cal Poly students.
About the College National Finals Rodeo
The College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), known as the Rose Bowl of national rodeo, is where the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) crowns individual event champions in saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying. National team championships are also awarded to men’s and women’s teams. More than 400 cowboys and cowgirls from more than 100 universities and colleges in NIRA’s 11 regions compete each year.
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