Jesse Segura's Feather River Legacy Ends With National Title
Jesse Segura's Feather River Legacy Ends With National Title
This summer, rodeo coach Jesse Segura guided Feather River College to its first-ever national championship title--and retired immediately afterward.
This summer, rodeo coach Jesse Segura guided Feather River College to its first-ever national championship title--and retired immediately afterward.
His squad dismantled the competition, which included Segura's alma mater, Cal Poly State, and other perennial collegiate rodeo forces. Headlined by Wyatt Denny and Clayton Biglow's 1-2 finish in bareback riding, the competition continued to go in Feather River's favor as Biglow snagged reserve champion all-around honors and took second in the second round of team roping with his partner, Lane Santos-Karney.
Rounded out by scoring performances from Ryan Opie, Quincy Crum and Dane Browning, Feather River amassed a winning total of 1,000 points--exactly 200 ahead of the runner-up, Northwestern Oklahoma State.
Few coaches are fortunate enough to end their careers on such a high note. But Segura has some experience when it comes to going out in style.
As a senior at Cal Poly State in 2003, Segura traded his cap and gown for a cowboy hat and a saddle on graduation day to participate in the all-around final at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) championship.
It was worth it. Segura won the national all-around title, which came with a $6,500 scholarship and $35,000 sponsorship from the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) circuit.
The very next year, he launched the rodeo program at Feather River. Over the next 11 years, Segura gradually nurtured the fledgling team into a national powerhouse with tireless fundraising, optimism and expertise.
"Jesse's energetic, enthusiastic, and negative is not any part of his vocabulary," National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association commissioner Roger Walters said in an interview with the Casper Star Tribune. "He does everything that you would want a coach to do plus about 150 percent more."
In the beginning, the odds were against Segura's small junior college team in Quincy, California. But now that the program has more than just a solid foundation for future success, Segura feels comfortable handing the reins to a new leader.
"I couldn't be more proud of these guys," Segura said the NIRA. "Not just for what they've accomplished in the arena but for the kind of people they are. They have a great work ethic and care about other people. And, they are all very competitive."
Since winning the title, Segura moved to Fallon, Nevada, to further the mission of his nonprofit organization, Western Heritage Preservation Society, which aims to safeguard the cultural, economic, and social significance of western heritage and rural living.
But wherever Segura goes, rodeo can't be too far away. Although his tenure at Feather River is over, his legacy may live on at Western Nevada College, where he intends to start a rodeo team.
His squad dismantled the competition, which included Segura's alma mater, Cal Poly State, and other perennial collegiate rodeo forces. Headlined by Wyatt Denny and Clayton Biglow's 1-2 finish in bareback riding, the competition continued to go in Feather River's favor as Biglow snagged reserve champion all-around honors and took second in the second round of team roping with his partner, Lane Santos-Karney.
Rounded out by scoring performances from Ryan Opie, Quincy Crum and Dane Browning, Feather River amassed a winning total of 1,000 points--exactly 200 ahead of the runner-up, Northwestern Oklahoma State.
Few coaches are fortunate enough to end their careers on such a high note. But Segura has some experience when it comes to going out in style.
As a senior at Cal Poly State in 2003, Segura traded his cap and gown for a cowboy hat and a saddle on graduation day to participate in the all-around final at the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) championship.
It was worth it. Segura won the national all-around title, which came with a $6,500 scholarship and $35,000 sponsorship from the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) circuit.
The very next year, he launched the rodeo program at Feather River. Over the next 11 years, Segura gradually nurtured the fledgling team into a national powerhouse with tireless fundraising, optimism and expertise.
"Jesse's energetic, enthusiastic, and negative is not any part of his vocabulary," National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association commissioner Roger Walters said in an interview with the Casper Star Tribune. "He does everything that you would want a coach to do plus about 150 percent more."
In the beginning, the odds were against Segura's small junior college team in Quincy, California. But now that the program has more than just a solid foundation for future success, Segura feels comfortable handing the reins to a new leader.
"I couldn't be more proud of these guys," Segura said the NIRA. "Not just for what they've accomplished in the arena but for the kind of people they are. They have a great work ethic and care about other people. And, they are all very competitive."
Since winning the title, Segura moved to Fallon, Nevada, to further the mission of his nonprofit organization, Western Heritage Preservation Society, which aims to safeguard the cultural, economic, and social significance of western heritage and rural living.
But wherever Segura goes, rodeo can't be too far away. Although his tenure at Feather River is over, his legacy may live on at Western Nevada College, where he intends to start a rodeo team.