FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 18, 2017<\/p>\n
STEPHENVILLE, Texas—It was a tiny window of opportunity, but recent Tarleton State University graduate Michael Tash climbed right through it.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He had to feel great about the events of the last 24 hours.<\/p>\n
Right?<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“It was a whirlwind,” he said. “All with no sleep.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Maybe his recent success has made the windows bigger and easier to get through.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
#<\/p>\n
Contact: Phil Riddle, News & Information Specialist It was a tiny window of opportunity, but recent Tarleton State University graduate Michael Tash climbed right through it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28915,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[423,425],"tags":[432,436,455],"class_list":["post-28914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-research","category-campus-community","tag-alumni","tag-college-of-agriculture-natural-resources","tag-rodeo"],"acf":{"image":null},"author_meta":{"display_name":"keegan","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/keegan-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2021\/11\/image-1464-300x200.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Academics & Research<\/a>","Campus & Community<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Academics & Research<\/span>","Campus & Community<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["Alumni<\/a>","College of Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/a>","Rodeo<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Alumni<\/span>","College of Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/span>","Rodeo<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 8 years ago","modified":"Updated 4 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on December 18, 2017","modified":"Updated on November 12, 2021"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on December 18, 2017 12:00 am","modified":"Updated on November 12, 2021 2:03 am"},"featured_img_caption":"Two men in graduation attire smiling and gesturing, with flags in the background.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
817-484-4415
priddle@tarleton.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"