WALLA WALLA – Walla Walla Community College qualified eight cowboys and a cowgirl to Sunday’s championship-go here in final performance action at the 30th anniversary of the Walla Walla Community College Exchange Club college rodeo’s Fight Against Child Abuse.

“Everything from the breakfasts, to the kids rodeo, to all the performances, were a great success,” Warrior coach Buster Barton said. “We’re a young team and have a lot to learn. This weekend proved to me and to them, that we’ve improved a tremendous amount.”

Bo Segerman led the Warriors as he qualified in four events for Sunday’s finals.

“Bo is an all-around cowboy,” Barton said. “It’s fun because he’s a local kid from Touchet. He’s a special one to us.”

After Austin Foss of Blue Mountain Community College led off the Sunday go with a 76 ride in the only Sunday bareback ride.

Segerman rode his saddle bronc to a 66 to post the best Sunday ride.

“It was a fun day as I got to get on some fun stuff,” Segerman said. “The horse circled around and it worked out for me today.”

Segerman posted a 12.8 run in tie-down roping, good for fifth fastest in the go and took home fifth place in the average with a 24.7 on two head.

“It was a real good calf,” Segerman said. “He (the calf) ran hard and stepped off to the right. I had to make a good run. I had to ride in the middle of him and get him tied down. That’s all I wanted to do.”

Warrior teammate Bryce Palmer tied his calf in 12.8 in the Sunday-go. Palmer’s Sunday time was the second fastest of the round and coupled with a 12.1 on his first head, earned Palmer a second-place finish in the average.

Segerman had a battle in steer wrestling. Competing it what Barton described as “the big man’s event,” Segerman, who does not fit the “big man” perception, went for a ride on the horns of his steer, but got the job done in 15.4. Segerman’s efforts earned him third for the rodeo with an average of 20.9.

“I drew a strong steer, and I’m not a very big guy,” Segerman said. “I knew I was probably going to get packed off for a little ways. I got down on him and he just picked me up and dragged me off. I had to throw him down.”

Segerman and Warrior teammate Mason Chambers failed to catch their calf in team roping, but they reached the short-go with a 13.2 first-go run.

However, WWCC cowboys Zach Justensen and Kane Thiel caught their calf in 13.1 Sunday and finished third in the average with a 21.3.

Warrior cowgirl Rachel Richards reached the finals in breakaway roping and goat tying. Richards missed her calf in breakaway but came back with a 7.8 run in goat tying. Her 7.8 stood up as the fastest of the championship go and boosted Richards to a 16.5 average, only four-tenths behind rodeo winner Brianne Baty of Treasure Valley, who posted a 16.1 average.

“It felt really good,” Richards said of her goat-tying run. “It was a lot better than my first run (an 8.7). I did everything better. I got everything done right. It just went smooth. The way the first run went, I’ll take it (the second go).”

Blue Mountain’s Quinn Mader posted the best breakaway run on Sunday with a 3.3 and took home the breakaway title with 7.9 on two.

Blue Mountain cowgirl Jade Crossley ran away from the field in barrel racing. Crossley won the first go in 14.81 and took the fastest in Sunday’s round with a 15.34 run. Her 30.15 average won the barrel racing title.

The rodeo belonged to Blue Mountain’s Dakota Eldridge. The Nevada transplant who calls Hermiston home, came into Sunday’s final go standing first in tie-down roping, steer wrestling and team roping. Eldridge slipped off the horns of his steer in steer wrestling or he would have completed the hat trick.

Eldridge posted the fastest tie-down roping run with an 8.6. Coupled with his 8.9 first go, Eldridge won the tie-down title by over three seconds.

“I had a good calf and a good horse,” Eldridge said. “I wanted to tie him down as fast as I could. Sometimes, I second guess myself and go to slow trying to make a good run. You need to go as fast as you can, but be smart and not stupid.”

Eldridge’s slip in steer wrestling opened the door for Touchet’s Taylor Gregg. Gregg, who rides for Washington State University, came into Sunday’s go four seconds behind Eldridge, but threw his steer in 5.4 Sunday and took the average title with a 13.8 on two.

“I second guessed myself and was a little late,” Eldridge said of his steer wrestling run. “I didn’t catch him where I wanted to and just slipped off the horns.”

Eldridge bounced back. Eldridge, on the head, and partner Nate Meeske on the heels, caught their calf in 7.8 in team roping, the fastest Sunday run. Coupled with their first go quickest time of 5.4, the pair won the rodeo with a 13.2 average.

“A guy can be mad and think (about) what he did wrong (in steer wrestling), but you’ve got to get over it,” Eldridge said. “There’s not a lot of time (between events). A positive attitude is more than anything.”

Eldridge, above the winning, has an understanding of what the rodeo was about.

“This (rodeo) is a good deal that Buster (Barton) does for these kids,” Eldridge said. “I’m going to donate some of my winnings to that (fight against child abuse).”

Bareback

SHORT-GO: 1, Austin Foss, BMCC, 76.

Saddle Bronc

SHORT GO: 1, Bo Segerman, WWCC, 66; 2, Dustin Easterday, TVCC, 59.

AVERAGE: 1, Easterday, 127; 2, Segerman 123.

Bull Riding

SHORT GO: 1, Clayne Haight, TVCC, 64.

AVERAGE: 1, Haight, TVCC 120.

Tie-down roping

SHORT GO: 1, Dakota Eldridge, BMCC, 8,6; 2, Bryce Palmer, WWCC, 9.8; 3, Justin Jarvis, EOU, 10.3; 4, Casey Fuller, TVCC, 12.4; 5, Bo Segerman, WWCC, 12.8.

AVERAGE: 1, Eldridge, BMCC, 17.5; 2, Jarvis, EOU, 20.6; 3, Palmer, WWCC 21.9; 4, Fuller, TVCC, 23.9; 5, Segerman, WWCC 24.7.

Steer wrestling

SHORT GO: 1, Taylor Gregg, WSU, 5.4; 2, Beau Lewis, 5.5; 3, Bo Segerman, WWCC, 15.4.

AVERAGE: 1, Gregg, WSU, 13.8; 2, Lewis, BMCC, 18.7; 3, Segerman, WWCC, 20.9.

Team roping

SHORT GO: 1, Dakota Eldridge and Nate Meeske, BMCC, 7.8; 2, Justin Kimsey and Cam Groff, 8.1; 3, Zach Justensen and Kane Thiele, WWCC, 13.1.

AVERAGE: 1, Eldridge and Meeske, BMCC, 13.2; 2, Kimsey and Groff, 17.5; 3, Justensen and Thiele, WWCC, 21.3.

Breakaway

SHORT GO: 1, Quinn Mader, BMCC, 3.3; 2, Rylee Potter, TVCC, 4.4; 3, Taylor Schneider, BMCC, 12.5.

AVERAGE: 1, Mader, BMCC, 7.9; 2, Potter, TVCC, 8.6; 3, Schneider, BMCC, 17.0.

Goat tying

SHORT GO: 1, Rachel Richards, WWCC, 7.8; 2, Brianne Baty, TVCC, 8.4; 3, Kayla Tiegs, BMCC, 8.6; 4, Mary Hays, BMCC, 8.8.

AVERAGE: 1, Baty, TVCC, 16.1; 2, Richards, WWCC, 16.5; 3, Tiegs, BMCC, 17.0; 4, Hays, BMCC, 17.6.

Barrel racing

SHORT GO: 1, Jade Crossley, BMCC, 15.34; 2, Whitney Stahl, BMCC, 15.36; 3, Brianne Baty, TVCC, 15.43; 4, Mary Hays, BMCC, 15.54.

AVERAGE: 1, Crossley, BMCC, 30.15; 2, Stahl, BMCC, 30.77; 3, Baty, TVCC, 31.01; 4, Hays, BMCC, 31.03.