Crownpoint soph hits new PR: Trio of siblings build points for chance at nationals

HOBBS, N.M.

It’s been nearly a year since Tyra Tsosie has finished a run under eight seconds in the goat-tying event.

Last October she posted a 7.69 effort at the Landmark No. 3 Rodeo competing in the New Mexico High School Rodeo Association.

On Sunday, she bettered that mark as the Crownpoint High sophomore hit a new PR of 6.62 seconds on the final day of the NMHSRA in Hobbs.

That run earned her a first-place check in Sunday’s round and that effort helped her to a runner-up finish in the aggregate race as she tied two goats in 14.75 seconds.

On Saturday, she turned in fourth-place run of 8.13 seconds.

Tsosie said the difference came down to the draws she had.

“Yesterday when I got to the goat it went right and I wasn’t ready for that,” she said on Sunday. “It cost me some time.

“Today the goat stood straight,” she added. “My horse didn’t duck out as much as she did yesterday.”

Bit-Of-Honey is the mare equine that she used to record those magnificent runs.

With her two runs in Hobbs, she chalked up 17 points and, coupled with her effort at Fort Sumner, she has amassed 34 points in the season standings.

“I think I’m sitting first right now,” she said, while noting that she finished as the reserve champion in the average race at Fort Sumner last month.

“I’m surprised,” she said of her season ranking. “I didn’t think I would be sitting first after two rodeos. I just want to get better.”

Last year she finished eighth overall in the season standings and with the way things are trending she has a shot of making nationals as the high school association is taking the top four finishers.

She wasn’t the only member in her immediate family to do well at the Hobbs rodeo as her twin brother, Tydon, took first in steer wrestling during Saturday’s round.

Their older brother, Tylon, finished second in the tie-down competition in Sunday’s round, which earned him nine points in the season standings.

“This is my first time earning points,” Tylon said at the conclusion of Sunday’s performance.

The day before the elder Tsosie sibling posted a 16.45 run for 14th-place and on Sunday he recorded a much faster run of 10.32 seconds.

“I did a better job of tying and gathering his legs,” Tylon said. “This means a lot,” he said of placing. “I’m just trying to earn some points so that I can get into that top four to get to nationals.”

In the steer wrestling, Tydon registered a 14.75 run during Saturday’s round that earned him a first-place check.

That run included a 10-second penalty as he broke the barrier.

“I left way too early,” the Crownpoint High sophomore said. “I didn’t back my horse all the way in the box and, when I called it, I broke the barrier.”

Tydon was looking to win his first average race, but he posted a no time on Sunday. He lost the title to Zane Cline, who posted two runs in 43.19 seconds.

“I tried to reach for it but I was too wide,” Tydon said of his attempt to catch the steer on Sunday.

Nonetheless, he’s sitting second in the season standings with 19 points as he is on track to make a return trip to nationals.

At nationals, he caught 1-of-2 steers.

“I had a lot of fun,” he said. “It was good, and I gained a lot of experience.”

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