UA riders dominate at 64th annual rodeo

The Rodeo club had two of its members finish in the top three, including a win in steer wrestling last Saturday at the 64th Annual UA Intercollegiate Rodeo.

Wes Kimble placed third in steer wrestling and second in calf roping while Clint Bucklew won steer wrestling to lead the Wildcats.

Head coach John Marcello öö who has been involved with the 64-year-old event for 35 years öö said he felt the team did well even though Larry Gibbons didn't place as high as expected.

"I figured those people would do well. We were hoping that Larry would have done better, but that's rodeo," Marcello said.

Competitors from Central Arizona College, Cochise College, New Mexico State, New Mexico, ASU and Grand Canyon College also competed.

The success of Kimble and Bucklew, out of seven Wildcats who competed, is "pretty good," Gibbons said.

"We did pretty darn well, all things considered," Gibbons said. "You can always hope for better though."

The rodeo costs $4,000 to put on which was raised by donors, Gibbons said.

"It is the oldest intercollegiate rodeo going, so we have that distinction," Marcello said.

Arizona's next rodeo is in Window Rock, Ariz., March 29 and 30.

Handballer Piexoto named All-American

Led by All-American Courtney Piexoto, the handball team sent six players to the 2003 Collegiate National Handball Tournament, last month ÷ Arizona's first in years.

Piexoto earned All-American status by making it to the semi finals in the Women's Open Division.

Matt Schilz won the Men's Contenders Division, Caleb Christensen was a Semifinalist in the Contenders Division and Matt Berzins was finalist in the Challengers Division.

Kris Ortega and Nathan Postillion made the round of 16 of the "C" Division. Schilz and Berzins were also finalists in the Mens "B" Doubles Division

"We had a very good showing," said head coach Ed McComb.

The tournament, which took place in Portland, Ore., was made up of 230 players, 60 of whom were women.

Piexoto, 18, also recently won the 19 and under Junior National Championship. She is also ranked 17th on the U.S. Handball Association's Woman's Pro Handball Tour.

"The UA Handball Club in its beginning stages was very competitive," McComb said.

Women's Rugby holds off UCSB

The women's rugby team held off a late Gaucho rally to beat UC Santa Barbara 15-11 on Saturday.

The Wildcats went up early, with trys by Brandie Diaterre and Jessica Baker to beat UC Santa Barbara despite injuries. Mya Hofflinger scored the winning try.

"The team played very well, probably the best I've seen them all season," said head coach Nancy Purdin. "We really played like a team."

Purdin could not single out players who did well because she felt the whole team did so well.

"They all did because we had a lot of people playing out of position because of people we were missing because of injuries," Purdin said.

Junior Kristen Alberts was out with a broken collarbone and Jessica McInterney with a broken nose.

Going into March, Rugby magazine had UCSB (No.3) ranked ahead of Arizona (No.4) in Southern California.

Arizona next plays ASU in its last league game March 30, at home, at Estevan Park.