The Lamar Community College Rodeo team will host its annual Antelope Stampede October 5 through 7 at the Prowers County Sand & Sage Fairgrounds.  

Fourteen teams from throughout Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska will compete over three days with performances at 6:00 p.m. Friday, 2:00 p.m. Saturday, and 11:00 a.m. Sunday. 

Cost of entrance to the rodeo is $6.00 for adults.  Entrance to the rodeo is free for all students and children 18 and under.  Tickets will be available at the gate or can be pre-purchased from any LCC Rodeo team member or Coach Cole Dorenkamp.

This event marks the first Antelope Stampede under Coach Dorenkamp; he is in his first year as head coach for LCC Rodeo after serving as a volunteer assistant coach for five years.

Dorenkamp takes over a fairly young Lopes team with only five returning sophomores including Montana Barlow (Rock Point, AZ), Raina Fillmore (Boone), Eryah Mora (Wiggins), Lane Schaaf (Chromo), and Nate Hoey (Montrose).  

New LCC team members include Jerome Chee (Leupp, AZ), Colton Crawford (Walsh), Chance Davis (Channing, TX), Joei Hamill (Lubbock, TX), Cody Kendrick (Masterson, TX), Lysa Lucero (Canon, NM), Gail Manygoats (Winslow, AZ), Kristine May (McKean, PA), Caysie Medeiros (Kula, HI), Jackson Mitchell (Las Animas), A.J. Neal (Houston, TX), Lorie Nix (Biloxi, MS), Amiya Sinn (North Judson, IN), and Dorthy Strange (Cliff, NM).

Coach Dorenkamp is looking forward to the upcoming Antelope Stampede, saying, “Everyone looks good in practice and we are performing strong in our rodeos so far.”

Dorenkamp noted a few Lopes to watch at the upcoming rodeo.  

Nate Hoey, who represented Lamar Community College at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) this past summer, continues to compete well in the bull riding.  He won the event at the first rodeo of the season and currently sits in second place in the Central Rocky Mountain Region. 

Lysa Lucero is currently tied for seventh place in the region in barrel racing and Chance Davis has been performing well in the saddle bronc.  Even though he hasn’t earning points yet, Davis made the short go at each rodeo so far this fall season.  

Other Lopes to keep an eye on include Joei Hammill in breakaway roping and Jackson Mitchell in team roping and calf roping.  

Dorenkamp noted that one of his goals for his first year as head coach is to build a strong team atmosphere.

“Building a solid team atmosphere is my main goal this year, along with having individuals make the CNFR,” Dorenkamp said.  “I feel like we are doing a lot better as a team this year, as a more cohesive team. Everyone is working better together at the rodeos than we’ve done in the past.”

Hoey agreed with his coach, saying, “The team atmosphere is good, and everyone is supportive.  We’re all going to every event – there are at least five or six of us at every slack, every performance.”

“When one person wins, the team wins,” Dorenkamp said. “If you’ve got two or three winning, it rolls on to the next couple and builds motivation.”

The Lopes Rodeo team is working hard to build that momentum this weekend at their home rodeo, October 5-7. 

For more information about the upcoming Antelope Stampede, or to learn more about this year’s team, visit golopes.com.