The Mid-Plains Community College Rodeo Team is off to a great start with its spring season.

The team placed second over the weekend at a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association-sanctioned rodeo hosted by South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D.

Individually, Rowdy Moon, of Sargent, won the bareback riding, and Garrett Heinert, of Papillion, won the bull riding. Heinert’s fellow team members, Trey Engel, of Silver Creek, and Ethan Lesiak, of Clarks, placed second and third, respectively, in the bull riding.

Ty Wriedt, of Norfolk, took second in the steer wrestling, followed by Cord Hesseltine, of Halsey, who placed fourth.

Rhett O’Connor, of Paxton, claimed a third place ranking in the team roping, alongside roping partner Cam O’Connor, of Keystone, who attends the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

“I’m happy we finished second, but we haven’t had a rodeo where our team fires on all cylinders,” said Dustin Elliott, MPCC Rodeo Team rough stock coach, “I expect more out of these guys, especially now that we have four weeks left of the season. It’s in their hands.”

That being said, he was satisfied with certain elements of the competition.

“The ones who really stepped up this week were our single event guys,” said Elliott. “Now it’s the other half, the guys in multiple events, who need to step up in all of their events instead of just one per weekend.”

They will have four more chances to do that – starting with the next rodeo, hosted by UNL in Lincoln on April 15-16.