EMCC to host rodeo at Meridian’s Lauderdale County Agri-Center
Published 4:00 pm Monday, March 10, 2025
- Jared Townsend, of Houston, Miss., works to keep his grip while riding a bronco Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023 during the fifth annual Meridian Open Rodeo at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.
SCOOBA — Exciting collegiate rodeo action returns to the Lauderdale County Agri-Center this week, as East Mississippi Community College’s 13th Annual Intercollegiate Rodeo kicks off Thursday in Meridian. The three-day event will conclude with Saturday night’s championship finals.
This will mark the ninth straight year that EMCC has hosted a collegiate rodeo in Meridian.
Gates will open at 7 p.m. nightly. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Admission is free for children ages 5 and younger, and there will be a pig scramble available for children in that age group.
Men’s and women’s rodeo teams from several colleges and universities that comprise the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association will compete in the event, including in-state foes Pearl River Community College and Northwest Mississippi Community College as well as the University of West Alabama.
Competitive events include bareback riding, tie-down roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding.
The EMCC-hosted Meridian rodeo will mark the second spring event for the NIRA’s Ozark Region. After having begun spring rodeo competition this past week in Searcy, Arkansas, regional rodeo events are also scheduled to be held this spring in Poplarville, Martin, Tennessee, and Senatobia. The 2025 College National Finals Rodeo is set for June 15-21 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.
“We always enjoy hosting this rodeo in Meridian, and we encourage everyone to come out to the Lauderdale County Agri-Center again this year to support all of the outstanding student-athletes who will be competing this week. It’s always a very entertaining three nights of college rodeo competition for the entire family,” said EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich.
The members of the EMCC men’s rodeo team are Tyler Brooks, Waylon Buskirk, Dylan Delmas, James Max Fenn, Dakari Gaylor, Ryder Griffith, Dylan Jones, Colton Mewbourn, Kannon Nunnery, Carson Powell, Gavin Williams and Tyler Wilson. The EMCC women’s rodeo team members are Shadow Goodrich, Jancey Harris, Karson Moore, Ryleigh Parker, Leslie Scroggins and Addison Templeton.
For additional information on EMCC’s 13th Annual Intercollegiate Rodeo, please contact EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich via email at mgoodrich@eastms.edu.
