Texas Tech Rodeo at Cooks Garage
This past weekend, Lubbock TX hosted one of the biggest and most interesting rodeo events of the year. The Texas Tech rodeo was held on Thursday, October 26th through Saturday, October 28th for one of the last collegiate rodeos of 2023 before the second half resumes in early 2024. The Texas Tech Rodeo is the 5th of the season, and some might argue that the best was in fact saved for last. Texas Tech in and of itself already comes with a certain gravitas by name alone, but the sheer size of the school, the program, the city, support, and the stage the rodeo was held on made for one of the most impressive rodeos in the country. Taking place at Cooks Garage in Lubbock, TX, Cooks for most of the year is a setting for live music, good food, and a venue to showcase classic cars. But for one special weekend, the grounds were cleared, and a rodeo was birthed. Howard College is part of the Southwest Region, and many believe this is one of the most competitive and talented regions in the nation. This sentiment was validated by the extreme competition on display and the impressive numbers, times, and 'cuts' established by all the riders and participants. If you were anything short of flawless in your performance, chances are that good, was not good enough. Howard is one of 16 teams in the region competing this weekend and the other 15 schools were out in full force. Cowboys and cowgirls alike came prepared and gave it their all as this would be the last time they would compete until the spring. Prior to the Texas Tech Rodeo, powerhouse Tarleton State led the Men's Overall standing with 2,230.00 points. Points are scored in various ways depending on the events at hand. For example, timed events will yield more points the quicker a task is accomplished like the roping of a calf, or other events such as bull riding where you want to accumulate as much time as allowed riding the animal. Western Texas College followed by Clarendon College round out the top 3 with hometown Texas Tech coming in at 4th and Howard College at 8th. To no one's surprise, Tarleton also leads the Women's division with 1,325.00 points followed by Clarendon College, Weatherford College in third, and Howard looking to break into the top 12.
The competition lived up to the hype as scoring points and making cuts proved to be extremely difficult for everyone, Hawks included. Cowboys Riley Jenkins and Hayden Cole advanced to the short round (finals) in team roping and were the only Howard representatives to advance into the late stages of the rodeo. The weekend didn't go quite as well as the Hawks wanted but that is simply a testament to how fierce the schools in the Southwest Region are.
At the Rodeos conclusion, both Tarleton Men's and Women's remain in first place in the division with little changing below. The Hawks will enjoy a break in the action as rodeo might arguably be the most strenuous of the sports. Rodeo season will resume in the spring and our cowboys and cowgirls will have some time to recoup and recover but rodeo never sleeps. Some of our riders will continue competing outside the collegiate rodeos during the hiatus. The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo will be held in Las Vegas in early December and a few Hawks will make their way to the desert and look to bring some Christmas tidings back to Big Spring. It was an exciting first half of the rodeo season capped off by an incredible rodeo in Lubbock, TX. We look forward to the second half and having the rodeo here at Howard in a few months. Go Hawks!