ALVA, Okla. – Savannah Greenfield is a freshman at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, competing in her first year in the Central Plains Region.

There’s a lot of new in her life right now: New friends, new campus, new level of competition. What isn’t new is Greenfield finding success. So far this year, she’s earned points in the three women’s events, barrel racing, goat-tying and breakaway roping. Her greatest success so far came this past weekend at the Kansas State University rodeo in Manhattan.

“It was just a cool atmosphere,” said Greenfield of Lakeview, Oregon. “Weber Arena is really cool, and the atmosphere really gets the adrenaline pumping; I’m glad I got to compete there before it gets torn down. The cold weather was not for me, but I made it work. I was just a few out of making the short round in goats, so making it in breakaway, I knew I just had to catch.”

This was the final year of Weber Arena before the K-State rodeo moves into a newer complex on the north side of the Central Plains’ largest campus. That’s where Greenfield stopped the clock in 3.2 seconds to secure her spot in the championship round. She was 3.4 seconds in the final performance to finish fourth in the short round and also in the two-run aggregate.

“I just wanted to be a faster 3(-second run), and that’s what I did in the short round,” she said.

Fellow Ranger Lauren Hopkins of Lincoln, California, also made the championship round in breakaway roping. While they led the way for the Northwestern women, Trisyn Kalawaia of Waiakea, Hawaii, continued his dominance in steer wrestling, proving again why Alva is considered the Bulldogging Capital of College Rodeo.

Kalawaia led the way for three Rangers steer wrestlers in the short round, joined by Grady Aasby of Highmore, South Dakota, and Cam Fox of Tulsa. The Hawaiian knocked his steer down in 4.4 seconds to share the first-round win, then was 6.5 seconds to finish fourth in the final round. His two-run cumulative time of 10.9 seconds held up for third place overall.

Kalawaia added 125 points to his season total to extend his lead in the Central Plains Region standings. He has 610 points, twice as many as his teammate, Fox, who is second. There are five events remaining in the spring semester.

Greenfield is following in the footsteps of her older brother, Kaden, who finished his intercollegiate career at Northwestern. Both are showing off the genes they acquired from their parents, mom Mesa and dad Shawn, the latter of whom was a seven-time steer wrestling qualifier to the National Finals Rodeo. Both Kaden and Savannah are all-around talents, and she’s putting hers on display in college rodeo.

“I definitely want to try to make the college finals this year, and I know that I need to make every short round,” she said. “I need to place in the long rounds, and I need to place in the short rounds, and that’s what I plan on doing the rest of these rodeos. I would love to make it in all three events and get the all-around (title) as well.”

It’s almost 1,600 miles from Alva to the southern Oregan community of Lakeview, which is not far from the California and Nevada state lines. That’s a long way from the comforts of home, but it’s just what she wanted when she set out to further her education.

“I wanted to get out of Oregon and experience something new,” Greenfield said. “I started looking at schools in Oklahoma, and once I toured Northwestern, I knew this was the place for me. It was a big decision, but I’m glad I did it.”

There’s a home-like feel to the Alva campus, and there are many opportunities for rodeo athletes to grow. Stockton Graves, an eight-time NFR bulldogger, is in his 13^th year coaching his alma mater, and that’s also a drawing card for young cowboys and cowgirls.

Greenfield had the perfect teacher in her dad while growing up, and now she’s transitioning a bit to another top cowboy in Graves to provide those lessons.

“My dad’s been there, so he knows what it takes, and he’s definitely helped me and my brother a lot,” she said. “I’m just very thankful to have him because he knows what to do. Stockton knows what he’s doing, and he’s been there and done that just like my dad. You want to listen to what he says. He knows what he’s talking about, and he knows what to do to set us up for success and what we need to do to win.”

That’s a key factor in why student athletes make their way to Northwestern. They want to be pushed toward success and strive toward championships.

“The biggest thing is I definitely just need to practice every day and push myself to become better,” Greenfield said. “You just want to get better.”