LA?GRANDE?- Intermountain team members crowded the top 10 as the fall high school rodeo season drew to a close Sunday in La Grande.
La Grande hosted two rodeos over the weekend and the Intermountain team accounted for 29 top-10 finishes, with three first-place runs.
Intermountain, made up of riders from Umatilla and Morrow counties, left its biggest mark on the first rodeo.
Jade Crossley of Hermiston won breakaway roping with a time of 3.2 seconds; Devin Robinson, of Heppner, won tie-down roping with a time of 11.5 and Callahan Crossley took first in pole bending.
While Intermountain veterans such as Hermiston's Mary Shae Hays (third in pole bending, ninth in barrel racing and 10th in goat tying) and Stanfield's Koty Kamm (third in tie-down) continued to fill familiar spots in the top 10, team advisor Maureen Crossley was impressed with the newcomers.
Rookies such as Pendleton's Pake Sorey (sixth in tie-down) and Heppner's Garret Robinson (ninth in team roping) found their way into some points over the weekend.
"We had some kids that had real good (fall seasons) and we had some rookies that picked up points this fall," she said. "I?think they're just going to get better."
Crossley also was pleased to see Hermiston's Chelsea Gussmiller picking up points after a rough first season last year.
Gussmiller was fifth in goat tying with a time of 8.81 at Rodeo 1.
Other placers for Rodeo 1 were:?Cain Smith of Pendleton third in team roping; Jake Talbot, of Pendleton, ninth in tie-down; Fabian Scotto/Michael Pederson, of Hermiston, eighth in team roping; Callahan Crossley, fourth in barrel racing; Kylee Jo Rogers, of Helix, 10th in pole bending.
In the second rodeo, the Intermountain team had no top finishes but still littered the top three with Jade Crossley placing second in barrel racing, Cain Smith taking third in bull riding, Koty Kamm third in steer wrestling and Callahan Crossley third in breakaway.
Jade also was sixth in goat tying and team roping with partner Devin Robinson while Callahan was 10th in goat tying.
A?pair of rookies placed in tie-down with Zane Davis of Hermiston clocking in at seventh and Jacob Ramirez of Weston placing 10th.
Other placers in Rodeo 2 were:?Garret Robinson/Pake Sorey, seventh in team roping; Kylee Jo Rogers/Cain Smith, eighth in team roping; Rogers, fifth in pole bending and sixth in barrel racing; Mary Shae Hays, fourth in pole bending and Taighler Dougherty of Heppner eighth in pole bending.
With the fall season in the books, The Oregon High School Rodeo Association will meet in November to set the dates for spring rodeos.
Maureen Crossley said it is looking like riders will be keeping their scores from seven or eight rodeos this season to put toward a berth at state.
The formula is the total number of rodeos divided by two, then plus one. The total number of rodeos will be set in November.
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