CHADRON, Neb. -- The Chadron State College rodeo will open the schedule in the Central Rocky Mountain Region this weekend, Sept. 15-17, at the Dawes County Fairgrounds at the north end Chadron. 

With at least 500 entries anticipated there will be plenty of action and competition. Slack will be needed Friday and Saturday along with the evening performances both days so everyone can compete. The top 10 contestants in each of the nine events after the first two days will advance the finals Sunday morning, when the champions will be crowned.

The slack sessions will begin at 1 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Saturday. They are open to the public without charge. The evening performances will start at 7 p.m.  The finals will begin at 10 o'clock Sunday, preceded by Cowboy Church at 8 a.m. in the fairgrounds grandstand.

The worship program is open to the public without charge and will include gospel music and inspirational messages.

Chadron State's new rodeo coach, Lane Day, is excited about this year's team.  He believes it has lots of potential.

There are 17 cowgirls and 13 cowboys on the rosters. More than half of the women have joined the team this fall while all but four of the men competed for CSC last season.  Fifteen of the women and nine of the men are Nebraskans. 

The women who have returned after having reached the finals in their event(s) at one or more of the regional rodeos in 2022-23 include Payton Gorwill, Arthur; Hannah Hoos, Rushville; Bailey Hurlburt, Battle Creek; Shailey McAbee, Hyannis; and Rylee Naprestek, Gothenburg.

Two of the new cowgirls on the roster—Brooke McCully of Mullen and Elle Ravenscroft of Cody--were on the Eagles' basketball teams the past two years, but grew up on ranches and have switched sports.  Another of the newcomers is Makayla Wray of Ord, who was the Nebraska High School Rodeo's breakaway roping winner 2022.

Several others were four-year state high school rodeo qualifiers and also competed at the national rodeos.

The Chadron State men's team includes veterans Parker Johnston of Maywood, who won the steer wrestling at the CSC rodeo in 2022, and Grant Turek of St. Paul, who was the tie down roping champion at last year's home rodeo.

Other CSC cowboys who placed or were finalist at last year's rodeos in the region include Jake Chasek of Mitchell, Cinch Kiger of Overton, Pepper Rhine of Craig, Colo., Jack Skavdahl of Harrison, Colton Storer of Arthur and Tanner Whetham of Morrill.

All four of the newcomers on this year's men's roster are freshmen. 

Among those who will help make the CSC rodeo click are announcer Sugar Rey Quinn of Rapid City and bull fighter Rowdy Moon, a former CSC bareback rider.  The pickup men during the bronc riding will be Justin Kissack, Joe Wilson and Storer. 

Muddy Creek Rodeo of Kyle S.D., owned by Chancey Wilson, will furnish the rough stock and the Haythorn Ranch at Arthur is providing the critters for the timed events.

General admission to the evening performances and the finals on Sunday is $10 per person except youths 12 and under who will be admitted free.  There's also no charge for CSC students, employees and Golden Eagles, the retired CSC personnel.

Chadron State Hall of Fame Ceremony set for September 23

CHADRON, Neb. -- Danny Woodhead and three linemen who blocked for him during his remarkable 2006 season are among the nine former Chadron State College athletes who will be going into the Eagles' Athletic Hall of Fame this fall.

The inductions will take place on on Saturday, Sept. 23 when both the CSC football and volleyball teams will be playing at home that afternoon.  The new Hall of Famers will be introduced at those contests, followed by a dinner that evening. A link to purchase tickets can be found at the bottom of this article. 

Woodhead rushed for 2,756 yards, then the most all-time in college football and still the most in NCAA Division II for a single season, during the Eagles' 13 games in the fall of 2006. He averaged 8.0 yards a carry and 212.0 yards a game that season, and also scored 42 touchdowns to lead the nation in scoring and earned the first of his two Harlon Hill Awards as Division II's outstanding player.

Three seniors—Robbie Klinetobe, Jared Lee and Chase Olsen—were up front blocking for Woodhead that autumn and will be inducted into the Hall of Fame with him.

Also to be inducted is one of the defensive stalwarts, linebacker Kalan Jones, along with three track and field standouts, Amanda Owens Cecilio, Emily Volkmer Cheetsos and Jack Sides, as well as volleyball's Jennifer Luatua.

Each of the linemen was a four-year letterman, at least a three-year starter and each was a first-team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference choice that season, when the Eagles had a 12-1 record and were ranked fifth in the final American Football Coaches Association poll. 

A native of Battle Creek, Neb., Klinetobe played guard and, as a senior, was a consensus All-American and the first runner-up for the Gene Upshaw Award that goes to the outstanding offensive lineman in Division II.

Lee was from Doherty High in Colorado Springs, and Olsen, a Sidney native, were the offensive tackles.  Besides being all-conference, all three were named to the Omaha World-Herald's Nebraska NCAA II all-star team as seniors.

When Woodhead was inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 2018, shortly after he'd completed nine seasons in the NFL, he told the audinece he didn't have to do anything special, he "just ran through the holes they (offensive linemen) opened."  

In June, it was announced that Woodhead's name has been placed on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot that is supervised by the National Football Foundation.

Along with going into the CSC Athletic Hall of Fame, Jones will be inducted into the Grand Island High School Hall of Fame this Saturday.  He became a starting linebacker for the Eagles as a redshirt freshman and was a starter every game after that when he was healthy.

Jones finished his career with 171 tackles, including 17 quarterback sacks and 27 ½ others behind the line of scrimmage. His teammates voted him the Outstanding Defensive Player his senior year, when he also was first-team All-RMAC and Nebraska NCAA Division II. 

Each of the track and field inductees also earned many special honors at Chadron State. 

Amanda Owens, a graduate of Harvard High School in south-central Nebraska, placed at RMAC meets 28 times, capped by being voted the Outstanding Female Athlete at the conference's outdoor championships her senior year.  She scored 33.5 points at that meet while placing third in the heptathlon, which involves seven events, and also placing five times in the regular competition.

She then went on to finish fourth in the heptathlon at the DII National Outdoor Meet and also placed in the high jump by clearing 5-foot-7, giving her four All-American honors during her career.

Coming from Kearney, Emily Volkmer placed in all three of her events--high hurdles, long jump and triple jump--both indoors and outdoors at the conference meets each of her four years at Chadron State. She also earned five All-American citations by placing in the triple jump at national meets.

She still has the Eagles' three longest indoor triple jumps and the four longest outdoor triple jumps, topped by a 41 foot, 9 inch mark.

Sides didn't take on as many events as Owens and Volkmer during his four years as their CSC teammate, but he excelled as a high jumper.

A graduate of Hot Springs High School, Sides won the high jump 16 times during his career, cleared at least 6-foot-8 on 17 occasions, was an All-American in 2006 when he went 6-11 at the National Indoor Meet, won the RMAC outdoor championship at 6-10 ½ as a senior and holds the Eagles' outdoor record of 7- ½.

Sides won't be the first member of his family in the Hall of Fame.  His father, John, was inducted in 1990 and, nearly 60 years after he competed, only three CSC men have ever run the 800 meters faster. 

Luatua came to Chadron State from Everett, Wash., and excelled as the volleyball team's libero. As a junior, she set the school record for most digs in a match with 39 vs. Northern Sate of South Dakota.

As a senior in 2008, she averaged 5.62 digs a game, a full dig more than any other player in the RMAC averaged, and Luatua was voted the conference's Defensive Player of the Year.  It was the first time in 18 seasons in the RMAC that a CSC volleyball player had received such an honor.