DOUGLAS — After a year of rebuilding, the Cochise College rodeo team begins its 2013-14 season this fall with a full squad, mixed with returning veterans and promising newcomers to college rodeo.
Cochise returns three for the men’s team, which finished sixth last year in the Grand Canyon Region, and two for the women’s team, which took fourth in the region. The men’s team features Charlie Kogianes, who transferred to Cochise partway through last season to take third in the region and sixth in the nation in saddle bronc riding. On the women’s side, sophomore Georgia Diez was the top barrel racer and second in the women’s all-around standings in last year’s region.
“Charlie will be a leader of the team and a great influence for all these younger guys we have,” second-year head coach Rick Smith said. “We expect that both teams will be more competitive on a regional basis, and I think you’re going to see a big upswing in our talent. We were fortunate to get some of the top recruits out there to come down, especially on the women’s side.”
Smith, who coached at Central Wyoming for 17 years prior to Cochise, and his wife, Lynn, an accomplished coach and athlete, said what they learned most between this year and last was all about recruiting in southeast Arizona. What athletes love most is the weather, which allows for year-round practice, and heavily upgraded rodeo facilities on the Douglas Campus.
“What we learned is if we can get students to come for a visit, we have an excellent chance of recruiting them,” Smith said. “Once they see Cochise College, once you see the reality, we were almost 100 percent when we could get a recruit to come for a visit.”
Lynn Smith started the “Better Basics” goat tying clinics in 1999 and continues to travel across the country to put them on for budding rodeo stars. Her reputation has helped foster quick growth for the Cochise women’s rodeo team, which Rick Smith believes has a good shot at a region title this year.
“With Lynn coaching, the goat tying will be good, but we also have several good breakaway ropers,” Rick Smith said. “We’re going to cover a lot of events. All of our girls work at least two events, most of them work three and four. We’ll be in a good position to get points, and all of these girls are tough and competitive.”
Cochise hosts its first home rodeo of the season Sept. 27-28 at the Cochise County Fairgrounds. Slack rodeo begins at 1 p.m. both Friday and Saturday afternoons. The performance rounds start at 6 p.m. Friday, with the championship starting at 6 p.m. Saturday.
“The crowds are great,” Smith said. “We love that. It’s usually not the case at a lot of college rodeos. But we’re fortunate that both of our home rodeos are very well attended, and that’s thanks to the people in the community, as well as the Fair Association.”