EMCC set to host collegiate rodeo this week at Meridian’s Lauderdale County Agri-Center

SCOOBA — Exciting collegiate rodeo action returns to the Lauderdale County Agri-Center this week, as East Mississippi Community C­olleg­e's 14^th Annual Intercollegiate Rodeo kicks off Thursday (March 12) in Meridian. The three-day event will conclude with Saturday night's (March 14) championship finals.

This will mark the 10th straight year that EMCC has hosted a collegiate rodeo in Meridian.

Gates will open at 7 p.m. nightly. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Admission is free for children ages 5 and younger, and there will be a pig scramble available for children in that age group.

Men's and women's rodeo teams from several colleges and universities that comprise the Ozark Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) will compete in the event, including in-state foes Pearl River Community College and Northwest Mississippi Community College as well as the University of West Alabama.

Competitive events include bareback riding, tie-down roping, breakaway roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing, and bull riding.

This week's EMCC-hosted Meridian rodeo will mark the second spring event on the 2025-26 Ozark Region schedule. The Lions opened the spring campaign this past week at Murray State University's 50^th Annual Racer Round Up event in Kentucky. Sanders McElroy helped lead the Lions to a fifth-place tie in the men's team standings by pairing with his brother Scout, who competes for Southern Arkansas University, to collect first-place honors in Murray State's team roping event. The brothers, former state champions at Mountain View High School in Arkansas, posted an aggregate score of 11.9 seconds in the spring opener to earn 170 points apiece and maintain their first-place lead among the Ozark Region's 2025-26 individual standings.

Following this week's EMCC-hosted rodeo in Meridian, Ozark Region rodeo events are also scheduled to be held this spring in Poplarville, Miss./Pearl River CC (March 19-21), Martin, Tenn./UT Martin (April 9-11), Searcy, Ark./Arkansas Tech (April 16-18), and Senatobia, Miss./Northwest Mississippi CC (April 23-25). The 2026 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) is set for June 16-22 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyo.

"We always enjoy hosting this rodeo in Meridian and we encourage everyone to come out to the Lauderdale County Agri-Center again this year to support all of the outstanding student-athletes who will be competing this week. It's always a very entertaining three nights of college rodeo competition for the entire family," said EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich.

For additional information on EMCC's 14^th Annual Intercollegiate Rodeo, please contact EMCC head rodeo coach Morgan Goodrich via email at mgoodrich@eastms.edu.