Northwest College’s team ropers Shawn Bird and Zach Schweigert are No. 2 in the nation and have a chance to jump to the top in the final two rodeos for the Big Sky Region since the other regions are done competing.

“It is in the bag for them, they’ve got 16 points to get to the lead in two rodeos,” NWC rodeo coach Del Nose said.

Bird and Schweigert burst out the gates and landed a 12.6, bringing their total regional score nearly double the second-place team’s total with 960 points.

The duo drew strong steers and made good runs, despite the small arena size, heeler Schweigert said.

“The steers were pretty fresh and I know we had to catch two to win,” header Bird said.

In just eight rodeos they’ve managed to rack up almost as many points as the top team ropers from Central Arizona College, and they’ve already competed in all 10 regional rodeos.

Bird and Schweigert’s plan is to keep roping steers three times a week, then use smarty and dummy targets the other two days and “try to stay sharp every day,” Bird said.

“Just keep catching, make good runs and keep turning steers,” Bird said.

Diving into Glendive

NWC left their competition in the dust April 24-26 at Glendive, Mont., scoring 710 points – nearly 200 points ahead of University of Montana Western.

“Montana State and University of Montana Western are four-year schools and they are hard to beat,” Nose said. “We are all lumped together and compete against four-year schools.”

NWC’s win at Glendive moved them up a step closer to second place in the region with 3,770 points to Montana State University’s 4,266 and University of Montana Western’s 4,612.5 points.

NWC is currently 22nd in the nation.

“It is hard to evaluate because they are all doing good,” Nose said.

From inside the chutes

Every fraction of a second counted for tie-down roper Lane Lahaye as he tied it all together in a mere 22 seconds flat.

“I was a little late, but I adjusted for it and I let him out further than I should — but, I roped him on the back end of the arena,” Lahaye said. “I was relieved, I knew I needed to win to stay in the running.”

Teammate Ricky Warren wasn’t far behind in the calf roping with a 25.1 for 105 points.

NWC’s Jesse Nelson added in another 127 points for bareback.

“His first ride was outstanding,” Nose said.

The girls had a tough weekend in Glendive, Nose said. The small arena did no favors for freshman Whitney Simmons, he added.

Her horse doesn’t like small arenas, which made barrel racing, breakaway roping and goat tying difficult, but “I can’t complain,” Simmons said.

Like many events, it’s luck of the draw and Simmons drew a good one for her first round in goat tying.

“He went a little left like any (goat) tier would like and stayed there the full 5-6 seconds,” Simmons said.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side for the breakaway roping draw.

“The calf hit three gears in two strides — I didn’t make the short go, but there’s nothing you can do about that when they run that hard,” Simmons said. “He was possibly the fastest one.”

Great expectations for Great Falls

Up next, the NWC team is focusing on position and concentration, reading the field and reacting as they prepare for this weekend’s rodeo at University of Great Falls in Great Falls, Mont.

If all goes well as the regional rodeos come to a close, NWC could have five team members competing in the college finals, Nose said.

“We are doing great,” Nose said. “They did a hell of a rodeo.”