Melrose grad third at CNFR

Ashley Good is a team of one when it to college rodeo.

Good, who hails from Melrose and lives in Portales, finished third Saturday in goat tying at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.

Her time of 7.9 in Saturday’s short-go lifted the Clovis Community College nursing student from fifth to third overall in the fourth-and-final round of the week-long competition for the top college performers in the country regardless of size.

“I went my freshman year; I rodeoed for Eastern (New Mexico University). Then I went to nursing school, so I’m doing it independently for Clovis,” said Good, formerly Ashley Sultemeier. “I don’t even think they (CCC) know or care that I’m here.”

Juggling her school studies to become a registered nurse with rodeo competitions has been much more difficult than it was while she was a student at ENMU.

But Good emerged from all the hard work to earn the all-around title for the Southwest Region in May.

“I have to do it all independently. At Eastern, I had a scholarship and had everything paid for. But, here, you kind of have to do it yourself,” Good said. “It’s hard, but I wanted to do it one more year.”

Preliminary rounds were held during the week to determine Saturday’s final group of competitors.

Good was also entered in the barrel racing event, but a pair of substandard times earned her a 17th place overall — not enough to place her in the finals. But, in goat tying, strong times of 7.4 and 6.9 seconds early in the week helped the CCC student to an overall fifth-place standing in that event after the qualifying rounds.

Now a resident of Portales, Good brought along three horses, her mother, a sister and a friend to Casper.

She plans on getting her registered nursing degree in December, but Good doesn’t plan on using her final year of college rodeo eligibility to try to qualify in 2005.

“I don’t want to have to go to school for another semester,” Good said. “But my husband (T.J. Good) trains horses, so I’m going to continue to ride.”