Wildrag fundraiser to support ag sports
Work has started on the Applied Technology Campus expansion
The Northeastern Junior College Foundation is seeking to raise money for the school’s ag sports teams through a wildrag fundraiser. Mattie Haney, executive director of the Foundation, spoke about the fundraiser during an NJC Advisory Council meeting on Thursday.
For the fundraiser, the Foundation is selling 100 brand spots on a wildrag, or cowboy/cowgirl scarf. For $250, your brand will be included on the NJC wildrag and you will get one for yourself to keep. All donations are tax-deductible and will go to support NJC ag sports students including rodeo, ranch horse and livestock judging team members.
“I have sat down with each of these coaches and they have identified a great need for scholarships to stay competitive. A lot of our rodeo, ranch horse and livestock judging kids from Colorado are getting recruited out of state and they attribute some of that to lack of competitive scholarships,” Haney explained, noting that $14,000 is now considered a competitive scholarship.
There is also a great travel expense need, as most rodeo and ranch horse travel is the student’s responsibility if there is not enough travel budget.
Haney shared some details about the teams that the money will support. A rodeo team typically has 10-15 members, the average grade point average for the team is 3.72 and there are 10 competitions yearly plus the college finals in Casper, Wyo. The top three teams qualify for the college finals and NJC has competed in the finals for the last five years. The team is currently ranked fifth in the region out of 15 teams, with the first three being four-year universities.
The ranch horse team typically has 16-20 members and attends eight competitions minimum yearly. Right now, there is a great need for a divided horse trailer. In the past six years, NJC’S team has placed 1st four times and they placed in the top two in the National Western Stock Show Horsemen’s Challenge in the last two
years.
Finally, the livestock judging team typically has between 15-20 members, who are required to be ag majors to join. The team has had three Allamerican awards in the past three years (competition includes academics and judging ability) and multiple top-10 team and individual finishes. They travel 20,000 miles in a typical year.
So far, 30 of the 100 brand spots available on the NJC wildrag have been sold. The Foundation hopes to have all spots sold so that they can start selling the wildrags at the concession stand this fall. If all 100 spots are filled, each team will get $8,000.
For those who don’t have a brand, you can still donate to the fundraiser and you will be honored in a different way. You will also be added to a mailing list to get regular updates on the teams.
If you would like to donate, send a check payable to the NJC Foundation at 100 College Ave., Sterling, CO. 80751, or go to www.njc.edu/northeastern-junior-college-foundation. For more information call 970-521-6777 or email foundation@njc.edu. President In other business, Mike White NJC shared that the ground has been broken on the Applied Technology Campus expansion project and steel should start going up in April or May. It should be ready for teaching in the White fall. also thanked faculty for stepping up to teach Colorado Online courses. In the fall NJC instructors taught 51 classes and they are teaching around 80 this spring. In the fall, NJC taught about 15.2 percent of the Colorado Online courses that the Colorado Community College System provided, making it the institution teaching the highest percentage all CCCS of colleges. classes across “That’s great revenue for the college,” White said. It was also announced that NJC’S episode on “The College Tour” is now available on the show’s website, www.thecollegetour.com, and will go live on Amazon in May. Earlier in the meeting, the council recognized NJC’S Employees of the Year including Classified Employee of the Year Steve Shalla, electrical trades II; Professional/technical Employee of the Year Tami Patten, technical systems analyst; Instructor of the Year Mike Wasson, business adjunct instructor; Rising Star Katie Thompson, chemistry faculty; and Faculty of the Year Brian Lewton, economics faculty. Additionally, the council recognized PTK Allcolorado Scholars Jada M. Thurber and Faythe Eichler. The council later recognized NJC’S volleyball team and Coach Makenzie Chrisman who received the American Volleyball Coaches Association West Region Coach of the Year award. The team finished
its season with a 36-3 record, they won 32 straight sets to open the year and after their first two losses, they won 22 matches in a row, which was the longest winning streak in NJCAA this year. NJC was ranked number two in the nation for a long time throughout the season and went 3-1 at the national tournament, which was the most wins and least losses NJC has had at a national tournament. The team had four All-region players, Region IX Freshman of the Year, Region IX Setter of the Year, Region Tournament MVP, one player named to the NJCAA All-tournament Team and two players named NJCAA All-americans.
“Super excited for next year, we have some big kids coming in,” Chrisman said, noting they have two state champions and an ACA All High School Prep Team member joining them.
The women’s basketball team, under the guidance of first-year head coach Bronson Motona, is currently 23-3 and had the most wins in program history before Christmas break. The team has scored a win against No. 8 in the nation, College of Southern Idaho, and also beat Western Nebraska for the first time since 2015 and Casper College for the first time in ten years. NJC is undefeated at home this year, has been ranked as high as No. 20 in the nation and is currently No. 25 in the nation. One of the players, Seneya Martinez, is in the top five for the most games won in school history and is on track to have the second-most wins in school history.
During NJC’S Hoops Homing Weekend, the team will take on Mccook Community College on Saturday, starting at 2 p.m.
It was also mentioned that a former NJC men’s basketball player, Dalton Knecht, is now playing for the University of Tennessee and is seeing great success.
White noted that NJC has about 196 athletes right now and 99 have achieved honor roll grades.
Upcoming events at NJC include the annual Food and Culture Fair on Wednesday, March 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the Bank of Colorado Event Center Auxiliary Gym. Admission is a donation for future culture fair events. There will also be a Larry Prestwich Memorial Exhibit running from Feb. 11-March 29 in the Peter Youngers Art Gallery inside E.S. French, with an open house and reception on Sunday, March 3, from 2 to 4 p.m. and the NJC Foundation will host a Logan County Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours on Thursday, March 14.