CASPER, WY – The Laramie County Community College rodeo team had all three of their competitors at the College National Finals Rodeo in contention on Friday night to make Saturday’s finals, but misfortune struck a pair of them as only Rayne Grant was able to secure her spot in the finale.
Grant finishes her three chances in barrel racing with a time of 42.75, including a 14.38 on her Thursday night run, to move her to fifth in the standings going into the short go.
The barrel racer has been consistent this week, posting a 14.27 and a 14.10 in her first to goes, and is also sitting in a good spot in the all-around race with 85 total points, 35 ahead of the cowgirl in third. Grant is looking to become the first Reserve All-Around Champion in program history for either men or women.
Head Coach Dean Finnerty said this is no surprise coming from one of the leaders of the team all year.
“She’s been a leader, she’s been winning, and it made a big difference and it’s been great to have her a part of the program.”
Reece Wadhams was the cowboy up for the Golden Eagles, taking to the arena with partner Rio Nutter with a window to make it to Saturday despite just one catch in their first two.
The team started with what was looking like a good time, but the steer didn’t help them finish the catch with any speed, and a 9.3 would be the result. The team finishes 16th in the nation in the final year for Wadhams as a Golden Eagle.
Kassidy Dunagan was also in a waiting game after her go on Wednesday night had her in ninth place going into the Friday performance. The arena was running quick for the goat tyers and a slew of sub seven second times bumped Dunagan to 14th place and just out of the finals by only .4 seconds.
“I couldn’t be more happy with those guys,” Finnerty said. “They tried their guts out and worked hard to set themselves up to be in the short round tomorrow, and that’s all we can ask of them.
“There’s 500 kids here and they ended up top 16 in both of their events and that’s impressive and something to work on.”
The women’s team is also in a spot to make some history. They are looking for their first top ten finish in program history, and 15 points from Dunagan in the third go have them in 11th place and just 25 points behind McNeese State University in sixth place. That would also be the highest finish for any team, men or women, in program history.
“It’s cool to see,” Finnerty said. “Sitting in the standings as good as they are, they’ve stepped up and it’s been fun to watch.”
The short go begins at 7:00 pm tomorrow night and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Grant will be up in the second to last event, so you can tune in for her action starting just after 8:30 pm.
Follow along for more on LCCC Athletics social media pages or check out more information on the rodeo team at www.golccc.com.