Tim Hubert

Chinook Writer 

As regular season rodeo winds down, Casper College’s Interim Head Coach, Neil Williams is filling his coaching boots with unwavering confidence in his team of student-athletes. Williams is new to coaching rodeo but not to the sport itself.

“I started rodeoing my freshman year of high school. I did it all the way through college and a little bit of pro,” said Williams.

After the conclusion of his rodeo career, a mutual connection told him about the new head coach opening and encouraged him to take the job. He comes with the hopes of carrying on the traditions of the college’s successful program. He hopes to help the athletes get to the College National Finals Rodeo and perform at the highest level. Williams is all too familiar with performing in the CNFR. As a student at Casper College, Williams appeared in the CNFR all four years of his career, competing under the leadership of then Head Coach, Tom Parker.

The team set its eyes on the CNFR, but the team first hopes to conclude the regular season on a high note. The CC rodeo team competes in the final rodeo of the season in Laramie to at  the University of Wyoming. The UW rodeo will be the team’s final opportunity to earn points and improve seeding. 

“If we hold our spot in second this weekend, we will get to take a team of six guys [to the CNFR]” said Williams. 

There are two ways to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo, and both are on the table this weekend. The first way to qualify for the CNFR is individual scores. Over the ten regular season rodeos, the CC cowboys and cowgirls earned points in their respective events with the hopes of placing in the top three in the region, effectively qualifying them for the CNFR. The other way to qualify for the CNFR is through team qualification. If the team finishes in the top two amongst other teams in the region, the team of six men or four women will compete in the finals. Currently four Casper College cowboys are qualified already for the finals, but if Casper can hold the current position of second place in the team standings, the program will qualify as a team and be able to send two additional athletes to the CNFR. 

Taking over as head coach in the middle of the season, Williams led the CC team for just the past three rodeos, including the Ropin’ and Riggin Days rodeo in Casper. Although at the conclusion of the regular season, Williams will only have seen his team compete at four rodeos, he shared the utmost confidence in this group. 

“Looking back at the standings, there’s a reason they are in second place in the region,” said Williams. 

He spoke about how impressed he is with how the team performed in the limited action he watched this season. Casper’s James Perrin impressed Williams tremendously over the last couple of months. Perrin is in his third season with the Thunderbirds, and he is topping the leaderboards this season. The Canadian, small-town native is currently sitting in first place of all saddle bronc riders in the region. 

The T-Birds are all too familiar with the saddle bronc standings, as Perrin is followed by teammates Eastan West in second and Malcom Heathershaw in third place. Saddle bronc riding will be one of the biggest events for the Thunderbirds in this year’s CNFR, and fans should expect excitement and high-level competition.