Vikings slip back at CNFR

Valley senior Kallie Agre will try to score today during her third go in breakaway roping at the College National Finals Rodeo. (Dan Hubbell/CNFR) [Click to enlarge]

CASPER, Wyo. -- A day of relative inactivity for the Missouri Valley College men's team found it losing ground at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.

The only Vikings to compete were juniors Chance Weldon and Brady Wilson in team roping, and they suffered their third and final no-score in the event.

Meanwhile, the 80 points given on an interim basis to junior Kyle Brennecke for leading the third "go" in bareback riding was reduced to 50 points after three competitors passed him Wednesday -- putting him tentatively in fourth place, with nine more cowboys due to perform over the last two days of the preliminary rounds.

Valley is currently in 18th place with 140 points.

The Lady Vikings also had only one entry in the arena Wednesday, senior Kallie Agre of Lindstrom, Minn., posting a time of 8.2 seconds in her third go in goat tying. With nearly half the field still waiting for its third try, including MVC junior Krista Staley, Agre's interim 11th place in the round is unlikely to hold up.

Agre didn't score in her second go, so is unlikely to advance to Saturday's championship show. With senior Amy Adametz and junior Katie Kimble having finished the prelims in 10th and 11th place respectively, and 17 contestants entering the third go with two completed ties, it will be difficult for them to stay in the top 12.

Valley's best remaining hope for a finals spot in goat tying is Staley, but she's 15th among those with two rounds in the books and will need her best mark of the meet in order to have a chance of climbing over those and several other contestants -- including her Lady Viking teammates -- who have completed three attempts.

The prospects for the men are somewhat brighter, but more will be known today after juniors Will Smith and Jake Shaw get done.

Smith is eighth among 12 saddle bronc riders yet to take their third turns. Six are three for three, but equaling his best score for this rodeo would only move him into a tie for sixth place among those who are done with their preliminaries -- and then he'd have to hope several riders faltered during their third gos.

Shaw won the first round of steer wrestling, but heads into the third go sixth among those remaining to complete the event.

If Shaw holds that spot, he's in the finals, since only five have scored in all three rounds.

Agre is also slated for her third go in breakaway roping today. She missed her throw in the first round, while there are eight competitors who have already put up three scores and nine more who are thus far two for two.