Collegiate rodeo action returns to Meridian this week as East Mississippi Community College’s 11th Annual Intercollegiate Rodeo kicks off Thursday at the Lauderdale County Agri-Center.

The three-day event, which will conclude with Saturday night’s championship round, marks the seventh year that EMCC has hosted a collegiate rodeo in Meridian.

“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 next week,” said EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich.

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 (NIRA) 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.

“It’s always a very entertaining three nights of college rodeo competition for the entire family,” Goodrich said.

The EMCC-hosted Meridian rodeo marks the spring opener for the NIRA’s Ozark Region. Other events are also scheduled in Poplarville on March 23-25; Monticello, Arkansas, on April 6-8; Martin, Tenn., on April 13-15; and Senatobia on April 27-29. The 2023 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) is slated for June 11-17 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyo.

 As the spring rodeo season gets underway following five fall regional events, the EMCC men are presently ranked third within the Ozark Region and 19th nationally as a team with 1,995 total points. The Lions concluded the fall rodeo campaign in November with consecutive runner-up men’s team finishes at events hosted by Southern Arkansas University and Murray State University.

Individually for EMCC’s men squad, brothers Cooper and Cade Cowan are currently ranked within the top five nationally in the team roping header and heeler categories, respectively, with a region-best 500 total points apiece to date this season.

The brothers, who are reigning College National Finals Rodeo participants, are graduates of Marshall Academy in Holly Springs. They have claimed five career Ozark Region event titles as EMCC competitors, including consecutive team roping wins at the University of West Alabama and Three Rivers College this past fall.