The Murray State Rodeo team has seen its share of success this year. So to has one of its members.
Senior Logan Corbett, a bareback rider from Nashville, Tenn., won the 2012 Ram PRCA Great Lakes Circuit Finals in Lexington, Ky, Nov. 8-10.
Corbett walked away with a little more than $2,000 after scoring 244 on three horses. In bareback riding, competitors are given a score out of 100, 50 points come from the animal and 50 points come from the rider. At the circuit finals, only the top 12 riders compete at the rodeo.
“Each one rides really good,” Corbett said. “So to be able to in just my third year of the PRCA, to be able to come out of the Finals as the winner feels really good. It’s a large part of it has to do with the Murray State Rodeo team has been in the little success I have seen. A large part of it has been because of Coach J.D. and the University team.”
During the three rounds of the rodeo Corbett did not change anything with his riding. He stuck to his goal, which has been the same all year.
“Every time I ride, (I try) to do the very best that I can,” he said. “Because a lot of it comes from the animals. Half of your score is for the animal. And so you can’t control what animal you ride. Whether he is good or whether he is bad, but if I do everything I can every time I ride, I am pretty positive that God will take care of the rest.”
Corbett said he has been very blessed this season. The Murray State Rodeo team has competed in four rodeos so far. In the four rodeos so far this season, Corbett has won two first and two second-place finishes.
“I was able to win our home rodeo here,” he said. “This was a big honor, because to be able to put on the rodeo here is a lot of work for us. But to be able to work all week while everybody else at all the other colleges gets to sleep and relax and practice. To be able to come and work at the top level was a big thing.”
Mentally preparing yourself is a big part of rodeo, and it is something Corbett said he works on all year, it is self-esteem that helps or hinders your confidence and your riding ability.
“The biggest thing that I work on and that I try to help other people with is the mental aspect,” he said. “Because rodeo, as life, is 90 percent mental. And being very strong mentally will help you almost more than being physically prepared.”
Corbett has been riding since he was 15. He started riding bulls when he was a freshman in high school and bareback horses when he was a sophomore. After he graduated high school he quit the bull riding and stuck to bareback riding.
Corbett and the Murray State rodeo team will head to Troy, Ala., this weekend for the last rodeo of the season.
Story by Jaci Kohn, Assistant Sports Editor.
