Photo: Laine Moore (right) and team roping partner Tanner Brown (left) of East Mississippi finished off the week with a 5.2-second time in Saturday’s short-go round, earning fourth in the final average standings. (Brian Oakley/nwcceangers.com)
An impressive rodeo season officially came to a close on Saturday evening for Northwest, as team roper Laine Moore finished first in the short-go championship round of the College National Finals Rodeo, or CNFR.
Moore, along with team roping partner Tanner Brown (East Mississippi), wrapped up their week of competition on a high note, recording a 5.2-second time. The mark was the top time in the short-go and helped the duo finish ranked fourth in the average standings.
Despite not winning the national championship, the freshman and Albertville, Ala. native finished with a strong showing, as Moore and Brown rose from 44th in event standings to 11th on Friday evening, lifting the pair into the championship round.
“My job was just to score first and get a catch,” Moore said, following his performance. “We just had to make sure we scored sharp, and we didn’t break the barrier or get any penalties. This rodeo is like no other. It has been fun all week and I really look forward to coming back.”
Out of 12 pairs competing on Saturday evening, Moore and Brown were one of only three duos to record a score in the short-go round. James Arviso (Hill College) and Kaden Profili (Texas A&M-Commerce) finished second in championship round with a 5.4-second time, while Tucker Donlon and Pierce Wold (California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo) raked in a 7.4-second time.
As for the rest of the Rangers competing, Christian Cagle finished his week on Wednesday evening, sitting at eighth in the average standings. However, the Canton, Ga. native was left to play the waiting game over the next two evenings, waiting for the remainder of the steer wrestling final go. With 24 steer wrestlers left to compete, Cagle dropped to eighth after Thursday evening’s performance, before tumbling out of the Top 12 on Friday night.
In all, Cagle finished 14th out of 41 participants in the nation, earning a 4.7 time in his first go, a 10.5 result in his second go and a 4.9-second time in the third round. His total time was 20.1 seconds with 65 total points.
Teammate and fellow steer wrestler Kent Jordan placed 27th in the average standings, leaving Wyoming with a total time of 21.1 seconds. Additionally, Will Collier finished 38th nationally, rebounding from no score in the first two rounds to record an 11.2-second time in the final round.
Cagle also competed in saddle bronc riding, but placed 36th out of 40 riders for the week. He received no score in the first and third rounds, but notched a 51.0 score in the second go.
As a team, Northwest placed 22nd in the men’s national team standings among 54 colleges competing. The Rangers’ 185 total points were good for third among NIRA Ozark Region teams and the No. 22 finish was better than several four-year colleges, including the likes of McNeese State, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Fresno State.
For those wanting to re-watch any of the performance rounds of the 2024 CNFR, replays are available for the next 30 days on demand in the ESPN app. Additionally, Moore’s championship round performance will be replayed on Tuesday, August 20 at 7 P.M. Central on ESPNU.
