College Daze tradition resumes tonight

PORTALES — For 53 years strong, the ENMU College Daze Rodeo has attracted some of the best college athletes from across the region to the eastern plains of New Mexico. The “Largest college rodeo in the Southwest” is a source of pride for those in the Portales area, and according to at least one man, it shows no signs of stopping, anytime soon.

“It’s a tradition that’s been going strong for 53 years, and is probably the longest running college rodeo in the country, outside of Sul Ross and Texas Tech,” veteran Greyhounds rodeo coach Albert Flinn explained. “It’s a lot of work, but it brings the top quality of rodeo to Portales. We get a lot of community support and great turnouts.”

The tradition starts up again today and continues through Saturday at Lewis Cooper Arena.

Flinn said the grandstands from the old Greyhound football stadium were transported to the arena, making it more spectator-friendly. Flinn says that the facilities continue to expand and are upgraded annually, thus allowing the College Daze Rodeo to grow that much stronger by the year.

As for the Eastern New Mexico rodeo team itself, Flinn expects the men’s team to be a little bit stronger than the women’s this year. Flinn will have six of his men representing the Greyhounds in team roping.

The expectation, he says, is for some of his athletes to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo, once again. In a tough region, he says that aiming for top five — as opposed to being No. 1 — is the main goal.

“We don’t have any riders on our team,” Flinn explained. “We have a bunch of calf ropers and bulldoggers, but we don’t have horse and bull riders, which hurts our chances of winning. But, I’m hoping to get a couple of boys to the rodeo finals this year.”

One of those men, Wesley Gudgell, is a senior team and calf roper, as well as steer wrestler. The Logan-native says that College Daze is special because it’s really the only rodeo in which his friends and family can see him in action. For him, he especially wants to perform at his best and earn his best result when he competes at College Daze.

Gudgell will be amongst the aforementioned team ropers, and it just so happens to be his specialty.

“I’ve been doing it since I was a little kid,” Gudgell said. “I just want to go out there and show people what I’ve got. Our region is pretty much the toughest region in the country, and that’s why I love it. You get to compete against the best, and it really pushes you to do better.”

On the women’s side, Flinn will have four team ropers. While the women’s team isn’t considered quite as strong as the past, it still has a chance to be one of the region’s best, and like the men’s, it could also produce a couple of national qualifiers.

One name to keep an eye on is Saige Bell. Bell is a junior from Corona, who does breakaway roping and goat tying, with the latter being her specialty. For her, the rodeo isn’t just about physicality, however.

“I just try to be smooth and have the mental game to overcome anything,” she said. As for the College Daze Rodeo itself, Bell echoes the same sentiments shared by Flinn and Gudgell.

“It’s awesome to be able to show the community what we do good,” Bell explained. “It gives people who aren’t able to travel to see us an opportunity to find out what we’re all about.”