University of Tennessee at Martin Rodeo sophomore Matt Smith of Kenton was the only cowboy to stay on the bull for eight seconds during the 44th annual UTM Rodeo

The University of Tennessee at Martin rodeo teams finished first and second in their own rodeo this past weekend at the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex. The UT Martin women finished first with 495 points, while the UT Martin men were second to Missouri Valley College with 780 points.
UT Martin has two more Ozark Region rodeos this season, and the goal is to finish first or second in the region and earn one of the region’s automatic bids to the College National Finals Rodeo in June at Casper, Wyo. After the annual UT Martin rodeo this past weekend, both the UTM men and women are sitting in second place in the Ozark Region.
UT Martin sophomore Matt Smith, from Kenton, won his first bull-riding event of the year when he scored 54 points on Darth Vader in Friday night’s performance. Smith was the only cowboy to ride a bull the entire weekend. In addition to winning the first round, Smith won the average.
UT Martin racked up the points in the team roping competition where Clay Mitchell and John Alley finished second in the average with a total time of 14 seconds on two runs. Ben Walker and Clark Adcock were fourth in the average with a total time of 16 seconds on two.
The steer-wrestling competition netted UT Martin more points as Austin Duckett won the average with a total time of 9.8 seconds on two. Allen Foster finished sixth in the first round of the steer wrestling with a time of 5.8.
UT Martin’s Ty Hughston finished third in the saddle-bronc average. He had a 63-point ride in the first round and finished third.
In calf roping, UT Martin cowboys dominated by taking second, third, fourth and fifth in the average. Walker split second and third. Alley was fourth in the average, and Adcock was fifth.
Sophomore Tyler Waltz picked up more rough stock points for UT Martin in the bareback riding. He was second in the first round with a 75-point ride and third in the average.
On the women’s side, UT Martin took fourth out of six spots in the average. Katie Brown was second in the average, while Dacia Horne was third in the average. Horne was first in the first round with a 14.31 average.
Mary Francis Gorsuch was fourth in the average, while senior Heather Moore was sixth.
Chelsie McDade was third in the goat-tying average with a total time of 13.4. Moore finished fourth in the breakaway average. She was first in the first round with a time of 2.6.

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