FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 18, 2017
STEPHENVILLE, Texas—It was a tiny window of opportunity, but recent Tarleton State University graduate Michael Tash climbed right through it.
First, he and teammate Max Ramsey collected more than $111,000 in winnings at the World Series of Team Roping in Las Vegas on Friday evening. They were part of a field of more than 2,000 competitors vying for $6 million in prize money.
Then he hustled to catch a plane and head back to Stephenville, arriving with little time to cross the stage and collect his diploma in animal production in 1 p.m. graduation exercises.
He had to feel great about the events of the last 24 hours.
Right?
“I didn’t really have time to feel, to be honest,” he said, laughing. “As soon as the roping was over and I got the check, I was running to unsaddle my horses and load the trailer so I could leave. Then I ran upstairs to pack all my clothes and get to the airport.”
He got back home about 10 a.m. Friday, just two hours before he was due at Wisdom Gym to wind up his undergraduate days at Tarleton.
“It was a whirlwind,” he said. “All with no sleep.”
But both his finish in Vegas, which included placing in two of the three divisions in which he qualified, and his graduation bode well for his future.
“They are both equally important,” he said, adding he is planning to invest his winnings in an animal production facility and get his Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association card in 2018.
“I plan to compete close to Stephenville, unless the year strikes off very strong. Then, I’ll make a run at the finals. If not, I’ll stay close to the house and try to get my feet wet as a professional roper.”
Maybe his recent success has made the windows bigger and easier to get through.
Tarleton, celebrating 100 years as founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven educational experience marked by academic innovation and exemplary service, and dedicated to transforming students into tomorrow’s professional leaders. As a member of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) with campuses in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian and online, Tarleton engages with its communities to provide real-world learning experiences and to address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, leadership, excellence and service.
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Contact: Phil Riddle, News & Information Specialist
817-484-4415
[email protected]
