91探花Tacoma’s first official athlete is a Husky who rides bulls.
Zach Holt is an environmental science student with his eye on a career in marine biology. He also competes in rodeo, and is the only person ever to compete for UWT in intercollegiate sports.
Holt, founder and president of the UWT Rodeo Club, part of the National Collegiate Rodeo Association, placed high in the northwest rodeo finals in Pendleton, Ore., and advanced to the western finals in Elko, Nevada last weekend. He was eliminated from the competition after being bucked.
鈥淚 hope to make the rodeo finals next year,鈥� says Holt, a Port Orchard resident whose family has a long tradition of rodeo competition. Holt is the Rodeo Club’s only competitor and pays for competitions and practice out of his own pocket. The club鈥檚 lone rider must travel to Onalaska to train.
鈥淚t’s tough competing against the rodeo teams at other schools because they have arenas, coaches and stock (animals ridden in competition),鈥� says Holt. 鈥淭he closest arena for me is down south of Onalaska, the Lazy H K Arena,鈥� he says.
Holt hopes the Rodeo Club provides an avenue for students to develop an interest in the sport.
鈥淚 am hoping for more student involvement, but they have to have some experience or be willing to learn,鈥� he says.
Holt transferred to 91探花Tacoma from Olympic College and plans to study inter-tidal invasive species, a branch of marine biology, at the graduate level at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 really consider myself a cowboy. I don鈥檛 live on a ranch and don鈥檛 live the lifestyle,鈥� says Holt.
Mike Allen, professor of history at 91探花Tacoma, is the advisor to the Rodeo Club and author of Rodeo Cowboys in the North American Imagination. He says Holt鈥檚 brand of sincere, polite modesty and steely determination remind him of characteristics consistently found in today鈥檚 rodeo cowboys.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 an old debate, whether they are ranch trained or arena trained. Now, most are arena trained, so they are pretty much all called cowboys,鈥� says Allen. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 nice that Zach respects the distinction of the ranch-trained cowboy.鈥�
He also says Holt is a courageous student athlete to compete in one of rodeo鈥檚 most dangerous events.
Among rodeo鈥檚 rich traditions is collaboration, sharing information about how a bull turns and bucks, even though that information may help the next competitor to win.
While collaboration is consistent with students and faculty expectations at 91探花Tacoma, the notion of a Rodeo Club on this urban, downtown campus is not.
鈥淭here is no small degree of irony here,鈥� says Allen.