Wildcat rodeo competes at regions

The Custer High School rodeo team competed in the  region rodeo over the past few weeks, with the first round taking place in Wall June 6-8.
Custer placed second as a team with 162.5 points in the first round, led by several first-place finishes.
Cody Dirkes placed first in cutting in the first and second go-round.
Leighton Sander placed first in the first go in bareback with 66 points and in the second go he placed second with 69 points, winning the average for the weekend.
Addie Sander placed first in the first go of barrel with a time of 17.242, as well as fifth place in breakaway at a time of 4.67. She was also fifth in pole bending at a time of 22.070. Sander also was second in the second go in barrel racing at a time of 17.295 and won the average for the weekend in that event.
In the second go for pole bending she had a time of 22.19, good for seventh place and a fourth-place average for the weekend.
Kylee Ellerton placed sixth in goat tying in the first go at  10.89 and in the second go had a 9.52, tying her for second place. She placed third in the average. In the second go of breakaway roping she placed fifth at a time of 4.25.
Slate Suhn placed second in team roping the first go with a 9.74 and first in the second go with a 8.84. He and his team roping partner won the average. In the second go of tie-down calf roping he placed sixth with a time of 15.60.
Dirkes and Rhett Lowe got second in team roping in the second go with a 9.42.
Kenley Parker placed fourth in the second go with a 10.18 in goats and seventh in the first go with 6.43 in breakaway.
Avari Dorrance placed third in goats in the first go with a time of 9.98 and 12.09 in the second go to place fifth in the average.
All these above have qualified for state. To qualify competitors need to have three or more points, which are acquired by placing in the top 10 in events.
The second round of regions was last weekend in New Underwood, where Leighton Sander finished first in both the first and second go, with scores of 72 and 66, respectively.
Dirkes won the cutting event both days, with a score of 73 each day.
Jayden Lange was fifth in the second go of breakaway with a time of 3.76, while Slate Suhn and his partner were second in the team roping in the first go at 8.60 and third in the second go at 23.97, while Suhn was also fourth in tie down the second go at 13.20
Custer had three competitors in the goat tying event, with Kylee Ellerton placing fourth in the first go at 9.34, followed by Kenley Parker in fifth at 9.79 and Avari Dorrance in eighth at 10.95. The second go saw Dorrance place third at 8.60, followed by Ellerton in fourth at 8.95 and Parker fifth at 9.29.
The team will next compete at the state rodeo in Pierre June 18-21.