TROY, Ala. -- As the college rodeo season enters its halfway point, Tennessee-Martin appears to be running away with the NIRA Ozark Region men's race.

If Missouri Valley College remains in contention, though, it can thank the cowboys who stay on horses. The Vikings placed third last week at the Troy (Ala.) Rodeo, keeping them in third place in the region standings, with 455 points -- behind the Skyhawks (835 points) and host Trojans (700).

Valley got 185 points with freshman Kyle Brennecke and senior Yancy Cody placing third and fourth, respectively, in bareback riding and 145 points as junior Kirk Nelson took third, junior Wes Clancy and senior Wade Pickerill finished fifth and sixth, and Cody came in ninth in saddle bronc riding.

Senior Colt Becht's third in steer wrestling didn't count toward the team tally, but Nelson's sixth did. The Vikings also got help as Pickerill was heeler for the sixth-place team roping duo.

The Valley women had no such luck, with none of their three entries scoring points in a meet won by West Alabama, 315 to 260 over Troy. The top performance for the Lady Vikings was a second in goat tying by freshman Katie Kimble, who wasn't on the team's line-up card.

Valley, currently sixth in the women's standings, will try to turn its fortune around this week at the West Alabama Rodeo.