EMCC to be represented at College National Finals Rodeo for 14th consecutive year
East Mississippi Community College’s continuous streak of having student-athletes qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) has reached 14 consecutive years. In addition, Tanner Brown has become the Lions’ fifth rodeo student-athlete to qualify for three CNFRs since the inception of EMCC’s rodeo program in 2010.
SCOOBA — East Mississippi Community College's continuous streak of having student-athletes qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) has reached 14 consecutive years. In addition, Tanner Brown has become the Lions' fifth rodeo student-athlete to qualify for three CNFRs since the inception of EMCC's rodeo program in 2010.
The upcoming 2024 CNFR will be held next month (June 9-15) at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.
Brown, out of Florence, Mississippi, qualified for this year's college rodeo national championship by finishing third in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association's (NIRA) 2023-24 Ozark Region standings as a team roping heeler. He and his team roping partner, Laine Moore, a header currently competing for Northwest Mississippi Community College after spending two seasons at EMCC, totaled 620 points apiece during this year's 10-event regular season. After opening the season with a first-place finish at the Missouri Valley College-hosted rodeo last September, Brown and Moore successfully teamed together to close out the Ozark Region's spring slate with a runner-up showing at the NWCC-hosted rodeo held during the final weekend of April in Senatobia.
While joining former EMCC rodeo standouts Marcus Theriot, Myles Neighbors, Jaylie Matthews and Blair Bryant as prior three-time CNFR qualifiers for the Lions, Brown previously competed in team roping at last year's CNFR with former EMCC teammate Koby Sanchez. The tandem finished the 2022-23 Ozark Region regular season in third place among the team roping standings. Brown made his CNFR debut two years ago with a 15th-place national finish in the 2022 tie-down roping event.
Prior to his EMCC rodeo days, Brown was the 2020 Mississippi High School tie-down roping champion, while also winning the finals average in team roping and earning reserve champion heeler honors for the year. Brown also previously paired with current EMCC teammate and Kemper Academy product Matt Watt as the 2016 National Junior High Finals Rodeo team roping champions.
With the top two men's and women's teams as well as the top three student-athletes in nine individual events from each of the NIRA's 11 regions having earned the opportunity to compete at nationals, the College National Finals Rodeo annually showcases more than 400 collegiate cowboys and cowgirls from four-year universities and two-year junior colleges located throughout the country. The CNFR is where the NIRA crowns yearly event champions in saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, bull riding, team roping, barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying.
This year's CNFR is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN3 with expanded livestream coverage beginning Tuesday (June 11) and running through Saturday night's finals (June 15). ESPN3 is available by downloading the ESPN app from the App Store or Google Play. ESPN3 is also available for online viewing at ESPN.com.
Following three rounds of slack and performance competitions that will take place through Friday night (June 14), the top 12 qualified contestants from each of the nine events will advance to Saturday evening's championship round. Online results from this year's CNFR are scheduled to be available throughout the week at CNFR.com.
Under the guidance of 14th-year head coach Morgan Goodrich, the Lions of East Mississippi have enjoyed national success within their men's and women's rodeo programs. Most recently, the EMCC women's program posted back-to-back top 10 national team finishes at the CNFR in 2021 and 2022. Also under Goodrich's direction, the EMCC men previously posted three consecutive (2016-18) top 10 national team finishes.
Individually under Goodrich's leadership, the Lions produced a pair of men's national champions within a three-year span when Tristan Martin won the CNFR's steer wrestling event in 2018 two years after Marcus Theriot earned the CNFR's 2016 all-around cowboy title as well as the tie-down roping national championship. In addition, the EMCC women featured CNFR reserve champion barrel racing sisters Jaylie and Taycie Matthews in 2021 and 2022, respectively.