Hill College wins a pair of National Titles at the 2024 College National Finals Rodeo

A pair of Hill College cowboys were crowned National Champions following Saturday’s conclusion of a week-long 2024 College National Finals Rodeo at the Fort Wyoming Center in Casper, Wyoming.

Hill College Rodeo Coach Paul Brown, who was smiling from one side of his cowboy hat to the other, was proud of all the accomplishments and progress his men’s and women’s teams have made this season.

“This was a very young team this year,” Brown said. “In fact, four of the six athletes were all freshmen. It was a great finish to a long tough year, but things only look brighter for the future.”

Freshman Koby Douch (Huntsville), who went into the CNFR ranked second in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s (NIRA) Southern Region, capped off his week with an impressive 8.7-second run in Tie Down Roping to give him a four-run time of 35.8 seconds and Hill College’s second national title in that event, but the first was way back in 1998.

Freshman James Arviso (Arizona) teamed up with Kaden Profili of Texas A&M-Commerce to win the national championship in Team Roping. Although Arviso (header) and Profili (heeler) headed into Saturday’s short go in second place, they finished strong with a time of 5.4 seconds to capture the title.

This was also Hill College’s first national championship in Team Roping.

“It was awesome for Hill College to dominate the roping in the men’s events with these two student-athletes, Brown added. “Koby’s older brother, John, won a reserve national championship in the Tie Down Roping for Hill College in 2017, so Koby kind of had big boots to fill. Did he ever – stepping up to the plate and taking first in the average after the second round and never looked back. He just kept roping sharp and smooth.”

Brown also said Arviso and Profili actually started the first round by only roping one back leg, but that didn’t change their game plan as they came back in the second round to rope the fastest steer of the week in 4.1 seconds.

“Another tough steer in the third round found another leg penalty, but Arviso and Profili still sat in second place in the average,” Brown said. “They wanted to put pressure on the top team, so they came out in the short round and roped one in 5.4 seconds.”

The number one team in the event fell to stop the clock on a bad steer leaving Arviso and Profili as National Champions.

On the women’s side, sophomore Kalli McCall (Lufkin) finished 12th in the nation in Barrel Racing following a rough short go in Saturday’s event. McCall, however, did finish the 2023-24 rodeo season ranked No. 1 in the NIRA Southern Region.

“Kalli came back to the short round sitting fourth in the average,” Brown said, “but she clipped the third barrel on her final run (a 5-second penalty) knocking her to 12th in the nation."

Other Hill College competitors included freshman Bryce Jensen (Huntsville) who finished eighth in the nation overall after placing in the third round of the bull riding event.

Brown said going into the championship round, Jensen lost his rope and was bucked off.

Sophomore saddle bronc rider Coy Hebert (Louisiana) and freshman team roper Sam Shofner (Jasper) also represented Hill College well at the 2024 CNFR.

“The Hill College men’s team finished an impressive fourth place nationally in a tough collegiate field,” Brown said. “Also, both Koby and James will be back next year to defend their national titles.”

The Hill College Rodeo program now has 11 national titles in three different events. Saturday’s two national titles in the same year was the first time in Hill College’s history for this to happen.

“There are only 10 event national titles awarded each year, so this is an accomplishment that doesn’t happen very often,” Brown added.

For more information on the Hill College Rodeo program, please visit https://hillcollegeathletics.com.