Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Sports at a Glance

All stories by Jean Schurman

Off to State for cowboys and cowgirls

Bradshaw now an Oredigger

The State High School Rodeo will be held this week in Helena at the Lewis and Clark County Fairgrounds in Helena. Contestants from across Montana will compete for a chance to move on and compete at the national level. The top four finishers in each event will advance to the National High School Rodeo in Springfield, Illinois at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The next four finishers in each event will advance to the Silver State Rodeo in Fallon, Nevada.

The Bitterroot has several athletes from different schools that will be competing at Helena. These cowboys and cowgirls have been competing all spring and most of last fall as well, hitting rodeos from Darby to Ekalaka and points in between. Points are accrued by winning or placing in events. If a contestant has earned one point, they are eligible to compete at the State Finals. Contestants can bring up to 70 points with them into the State Finals and these points are carried through the rodeo. Therefore, even if they don't have a real good run at finals, they still have a chance to make it to the National Finals or the Silver State Rodeo.

Bridger Chambers, last year's state calf roping champion, is tied for first heading into the rodeo with three other cowboys. He won two go-arounds at the District V rodeo two weeks ago in Kalispell and was second in the last rodeo of the season. A senior at Stevensville this fall, Chambers is also tough in the team roping event with header Jessica Picchietti of Arlee. He is sitting ninth in the state in the all-around race.

Cory Gilbert of Darby is another Bitterroot cowboy who is tough in the calf roping. He is tied for fifth in the state standings, trailing Chambers and company by one point. Other cowboys that will be competing are Boone Chambers and Grey Chadwick, also of Darby.

One up and coming cowgirl is Stevensville's Mariah Morgan. This freshman came on the barrel racing scene this spring in a flurry and had heads turning when she ran the barrels on her paint. She made two winning runs at Kalispell at the district rodeo and will be a tough act to follow even though she isn't ranked in the top ten in the state in barrel racing.

Corvallis' Ashton Stephens is sitting second in the girls cow cutting event. Nicole Owen of Florence and Casey Burnette of Corvallis each earned some points at the district rodeo as well.

The Finals will get underway in Helena on Wednesday with the queen contest. The first go-around of the timed events will also begin on Wednesday. The rodeo concludes Sunday with the championship round.

Shea Bradshaw, a standout at Corvallis High School from 1999 to 2003, has transferred from Northern Idaho Community college to Montana Tech. The announcement was made on Friday by head coach Nate Larson.

While at Corvallis, Bradshaw was All-State for the Class A Blue Devils his senior year. He averaged 25 points and seven assists during that year. His mastery of the trey will allow him to continue to be an offensive force. He averaged nine points per game while at Northern Idaho and led the Scenic West Athletic Conference with 86 three-pointers as a freshman.

"Shea put up some impressive numbers in a very talented junior college league and he will be able to step in right away and be an immediate outside shooting threat in the Frontier Conference," Larson said.

Bradshaw graduated from NIC this spring with an associate of arts degree. He plans to major in business and information technology at Tech.