CASPER, Wyoming — James Arviso of Seba Dalkai was crowned a National Champion following the conclusion of the week-long 2024 College National Finals Rodeo at the Fort Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyo.
Hill College Rodeo Coach Paul Brown, who was smiling from one side of his cowboy hat to the other, was proud of all the accomplishments and progress his men’s and women’s teams have made this season.
“This was a very young team this year,” Brown said. “In fact, four of the six athletes were all freshmen. It was a great finish to a long tough year, but things only look brighter for the future.”
Arviso, a freshman, teamed up with Kaden Profili of Texas A&M-Commerce to win the national championship in Team Roping. Although Arviso (header) and Profili (heeler) headed into Saturday’s short go in second place, they finished strong with a time of 5.4 seconds to capture the title.
This was also Hill College’s first national championship in Team Roping.
“It was awesome for Hill College to dominate the roping in the men’s events with these two student-athletes, Brown added. He also said Arviso and Profili actually started the first round by only roping one back leg, but that didn’t change their game plan as they came back in the second round to rope the fastest steer of the week in 4.1 seconds.
“Another tough steer in the third round found another leg penalty, but Arviso and Profili still sat in second place in the average,” Brown said. “They wanted to put pressure on the top team, so they came out in the short round and roped one in 5.4 seconds.”
The number one team in the event fell to stop the clock on a bad steer leaving Arviso and Profili as National Champions.
The Hill College Rodeo program now has 11 national titles in three different events. Saturday’s two national titles in the same year was the first time in Hill College’s history for this to happen.
“There are only 10 event national titles awarded each year, so this is an accomplishment that doesn’t happen very often,” Brown added.
For more information on the Hill College Rodeo program, please visit https://hillcollegeathletics.com.
