Four members of the Cuesta College Rodeo Club will compete at the 2015 College National Finals Rodeo June 13-20 in Casper, Wyo. Three of the student athletes will compete in team roping; the fourth qualified in bull riding. Each placed in the Top-3 of their event over the course of the 2014-15 West Coast Regions of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.
The trio going to Nationals are: Dalton Pearce, Tristan Ruffoni and Lane Lowry in team roping, along with bull rider, Jacob Gardner. More than 400 students from more than 100 universities and colleges will participate in the Nationals.
“It is amazing that Cuesta College, in its first year of having a rodeo club, is sending four student athletes to the College National Finals Rodeo,” said volunteer coach, Clint Pearce, who will be joining the students in Casper. “The quality of competitors on our team is world class and I am extremely proud.”
The Cuesta Rodeo Club was formed in Fall 2014 through the Associated Students of Cuesta College. It consists of 19 members who are both passionate about rodeo and dedicated to their educations. Each member is a full-time Cuesta student. According to Pearce, the membership may double next fall due to its popularity.
“The goals for the Cuesta College Rodeo Club,” Pearce said, “are to motivate our student athletes to excel in the classroom and the rodeo arena. There are many talented and highly competitive rodeo athletes who attend Cuesta and this organized club allows them to compete in the sport they’re so passionate about, while maintaining good grades and staying fully engaged in their collegiate experience in order to stay eligible to compete.”
The club has forged a partnership with Cal Poly, as Cuesta’s members practice at the Cal Poly Rodeo Arena alongside the Cal Poly Rodeo Club.