The University of Tennessee at Martin rodeo team got a wake-up call this past weekend in the Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex and it came just in time according to head coach John Luthi. The Skyhawk men’s team finished third in the team standings with 250 points this past weekend in its home rodeo.

Arkansas-Monticello claimed the top team honors with 270 points, while West Alabama was second with 255 points.

Although the third-place finish won’t hurt UTM in the Ozark Region standings, Luthi said the team needs to make some improvements with two rodeos remaining this year if it wants to win the region again and claim an automatic berth in the College National Finals Rodeo set for June in Casper, Wyo.

“We made some mental mistakes in the short round and we had a few problems in the long go,” Luthi said. “I don’t want to make excuses, but we just didn’t compete up to par.”

UTM’s Scotty NeSmith won the bareback average, while his teammate Whit Ashe was second in the average. UTM’s Russ Ratkowski finished fourth in the average.

UTM picked up some points in the saddle bronc, when Jason Forsythe turned in a 76-point ride in the second go.

Ashe claimed second in the average with 144 points on two. In the steer wrestling, UTM’s Boyd Quinley finished third in the average, while Ty Atchison was fourth in the short go and average. Curtis Griffin finished second in the bull riding average with an 82-point ride.

On the women’s side, UTM finished fourth with 55 points. Kelly Miller finished second in the goat tying long go with a time of 7.8.

Miller was fourth in the short go with a time of 8.9 and third in the average with 16.7 on two.

The UTM rodeo team returns to action Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23 when it travels to Mississippi State University.

While Luthi was not overly excited about the third-place finish, he was pleased with the crowd each night at the UTM rodeo.

“We had great crowds and we hope everyone enjoyed the rodeo.”