Posts from April, 2022

Eastern Wyoming College has announced the Spring Concert will be held Sunday May 1, 2022 at 2 pm in the Fine Arts Auditorium.

The concert is free and open to the public and will feature the EWC Community Choir, and Community Band.

Brendan Thomas, Oscar Behle

The Eastern Wyoming College Lancer golf team won the Central Wyoming College tournament held April 21-22. EWC won by 15 strokes with a score of 573. Northeastern Junior College was second with 588.

“The guys played insane the second day to come away with another win. I’m pretty sure -11 under for a one-day total is a team record for us but I need to look back over the years to confirm that,” said Coach Zach Smith. “Regardless, it was a special day for us. It was one of those days that started off great and we kept the momentum throughout the day. I’m so proud of this team and can’t wait to finish Region IX play at home this week.”

All of the Lancer team members traveled to Riverton and played this tournament. Leading the Lancers was sophomore Brendan Thomas, Farmington, UT, with scores of 70, 73 for 143. He placed 2nd. Other Lancers scores were as follows:

Oscar Behle, freshman, Falkoping, Sweden – 77, 67 – 144, tied 3rd
Johsua Wiese, freshman, Cape Town, South Africa – 75, 69 – 144, tied 3rd
Conrado Chozas, sophomore, Madrid, Spain – 73, 74 – tied 5th
Johannes Lindstrom, sophomore, Falkoping, Sweden – 73, 73 – 147, tied 5th
Russel Sprecher, sophomore, Casper, WY – 77, 70 – 147, tied 5th
Remington Newell, sophomore, Spanish Fork, UT – 82, 71 – 153, 15th
Owen Walsh, sophomore, Ottawa, Canada – 78, 76 – 154, tied 16th
Tim Van Stiphout, sophomore, Hasselt, Belguim – 82, 73 – 155, tied 19th
Simon Carlgren, freshman, Falkoping, Sweden – 82, 78 – 160, tied 26th
Andrew Stannard, freshman, Laramie, WY – 91, 80 – 171, 38th

The Lancers will conclude their spring season at home this week on April 28-29.

Karissa Rayhill

The Eastern Wyoming College Lancer Rodeo team competed in their final rodeo of the spring season which was held in Laramie, WY and hosted by the University of Wyoming. Team members finished the weekend strong, winning four average titles for the rodeo including all around cowgirl, goat tying, steer wrestling and barrel racing.

For the year-end, Lancer Rodeo Cowgirl Karissa Rayhill won three regional titles. Rayhill is the 2022 Central Rocky Mountain Region All-Around Cowgirl, the 2022 CRMR Goat Tying Champion, and the 2022 CRMR Barrel Racing Champion. She will represent Lancer Rodeo at the 2022 College National Finals Rodeo in June.

“I’m really pleased with how the team did this weekend,” said Eastern Wyoming College Rodeo Coach Jake Clark. “Karissa stayed consistent in the barrels and came from behind to win the regional title. We took away four titles from the UW rodeo.”

“It was great to see many team members finish strong and end the year like this,” Clark continued.

Lancer Rodeo Team Results from UW Rodeo April 22-24:

Karissa Rayhill, Martin, Sourh Dakota: All-Around Cowgirl, Barrel Racing Average winner (1st in long round with a 14.51, 2nd in short round with a 14.52 and 1st in average with a 28.93 seconds on two runs). Rayhill also placed 5th in the team roping average with partner Seth Shorb (EWC alumni) of Chadron State College

Hanna Huffman, Burwell, Neb.: Goat Tying Champion (1st in long round with a 7.0 second run, 2nd in short round with a 7.0 second run and 1st in average with 14.0 seconds on two)

Trayton Travnicek, Minatare, Neb.: Steer Wrestling Champion (1st in long round with a 5.1 second run, 1st in short round with a 5.1 second run, 1st in average with a 10.2 on two)

Tegun Spring, Wall, South Dakota: 3rd in average in steer wrestling with a 12.9 on 2 (won 4th in long round with a 5.6 second run)

Dr. Jeffry Hawes

The Eastern Wyoming College Board of Trustees have announced that Dr. Jeffry D. Hawes, presidential candidate, has been invited to campus for an in-person interview, employee and student meetings, and public forums.

An open public forum will be held in the EWC Fine Arts Center Auditorium in Torrington on Wednesday, April 27, 1:30 – 2:45 pm. An open public forum will be held on the Douglas Campus on Thursday, April 28, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm. The EWC Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting on Wednesday afternoon, April 27, at 4:00 pm to interview Dr. Hawes, in executive session. A notice and agenda of the special meeting on Wednesday, April 27 at 4:00 pm can be found attached to this email distribution.

Dr. Jeffry Hawes was raised on a family farm in Quincy, Michigan where he knew from an early age that he wanted to become a teacher. He has spent the past thirty years committed to teaching and learning as he worked closely with administration, faculty, and staff to deliver quality instructional programs that prepare students for their futures. Dr. Hawes graduated from Michigan State University where he dual majored in Agriculture and Extension Education and Agricultural Communications. Upon completion of his baccalaureate degrees, he taught at the secondary level for eight years in Michigan. He was recognized twice as a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Teacher of the Year. While teaching, Dr. Hawes earned a Master of Science in Agriculture and Extension Education at Michigan State University with a focus on secondary educational leadership and instructional pedagogy.

In 2000, Dr. Hawes accepted a position with Michigan State University where he served as an academic specialist providing leadership to the Michigan FFA Association, and he worked closely with the Agriculture and Natural Resources Education faculty to deliver agriculture programming. During his time at Michigan State University, Dr. Hawes completed his Ph.D. in Agriculture and Extension Education with an emphasis on leadership in higher education and research. In 2006, Dr. Hawes arrived at Black Hawk College, where he taught agriculture and horticulture career and transfer courses for thirteen years. In 2013, Dr. Hawes served as Interim Dean of Business Development and Technology and, after returning to faculty, he served as co-chair of the Agriculture Department and served as the East Campus Faculty Senate president and president of the Illinois Association of Community Colleges and Instructors of Agriculture. In 2019, Dr. Hawes accepted the position as Executive Dean of East Campus for Black Hawk College where he provides leadership for career and transfer programing and advocates for faculty, staff, and students alike.

Over the years, Dr. Hawes has served as the primary investigator for multiple grants focusing on career development and student achievement. He has led teams to redesign curriculum and complete accreditation processes for academic programs. Dr. Hawes has endeavored to be an innovative leader who has placed student learning as a top priority, developing strong partnerships within the college, as well as working closely with community partners and industry.

Brendan Thomas

The Eastern Wyoming College golf team competed in Sterling, CO at the tournament hosted by Northeastern Junior College on April 14-15. The Lancers won the tournament with a score of 576. NJC was second with 580.

“This win felt great,” said Coach Zach Smith. “We were in second after day 1 and just a few shots ahead of third, so we needed to play well as a team on day two and they guys did. Brendan had another great day to walk away with a tie for first. We got a big round out of Remi as well which was awesome to see and much needed.”

Leading the Lancers was sophomore Brendan Thomas, sophomore, Farmington, UT, with scores of 71, 69 for 140. He tied for first place. Other Lancer scores were as follows:

Johannes Lindstrom, sophomore, Falkoping, Sweden – 68, 74 – 142, 3^rd
Remington Newell, sophomore, Spanish Fork, UT – 78, 69 – 147, tied 5^th
Tim Van Stiphout, sophomore, Hasselt, Belgium – 76, 73 – 149, tied 9^th
Owen Walsh, sophomore, Ottawa, Canada – 76, 75 – 151, tied 12^th
Simon Carlgren, freshman, Falkoping, Sweden – 77, 75 – 152, tied 15^th

Left to right: Jonathan Pieper, Ryan Swan, Matthew Veen

Eastern Wyoming College business majors competed at the Wyoming Collegiate Business Ethics Case Competition in Laramie on April 8.

EWC’s team consisted of Sophomore Jonathan Pieper, Mitchell, NE; Ryan Swan, Freshman, Casper, WY; and Matthew Veen, Sophomore, Denver, CO. They are advised by Jennifer Minks, CPA, Associate Professor-Business, and Ellen O. Creagar, J.D., MA, Professor-Business Law and Social Sciences.

As part of the competition, the team played the role of an ethics consulting firm advising a board of directors and presented their recommendations in a 10-minute presentation. The team also prepared an Executive Summary as part of the competition.

“The preparation for the competition was interesting because we didn’t know what to expect and what they were looking for as judges,” commented Mathew Veen.

Ryan Swan explained that, “It was a cool experience to not only learn about something new but to also present what we learned to other people by putting ourselves into the characters of a consulting team. I thought it was a really fun experience overall.”

The competition was hosted and funded by the University of Wyoming College of Business and the Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Collegiate Program and included dinner and a speaker.

According to Jonathan Pieper, “It was a good opportunity to think about business in a way that a lot of individuals don’t, while also being able to enhance my public speaking skills and do something our school has never done before.”

“Professor Minks and I started working with the team in January,” explained Creagar. “U.W. provided us with 2 cases from previous years and the students used those to familiarize themselves with the key ethical principles identified by Daniels. When we received the actual case study, Ryan, Matt, and Jonathan took off with it. It was such a treat to work with this team.

Not only are they among the best and brightest students at EWC, they are very competitive and have high goals for themselves and each other. They set out to win, and they did it!”

The Eastern Wyoming College Board of Trustees has announced that President Lesley Travers has tendered her resignation, effective immediately.

“The Board would like to thank Dr. Travers for her service to the College and wish her well in her retirement,” said Board Chair Robert Baumgartner. “As we move forward, the Board is committed to finding the best fit for EWC who will focus on our students and build a strong future.”

Following an emergency executive session, the Board convened to accept the resignation of Dr. Travers and approve the immediate appointment of Dr. Richard Patterson as the Interim President to assume all presidential duties immediately.

The Board intends to move expeditiously in the presidential search process to find the right president as quickly as possible.

The McCook golf tournament that was rescheduled for Wednesday, April 12th has been canceled.

Eastern Wyoming College standout Karissa Rayhill has dominated the spring rodeo  season and now finds herself in the number one spot of the Central Rocky Mountain Regionals standings in the women’s all-around and the goat tying. She is also in second place in the regional barrel racing standings. This past weekend in Casper, Rayhill won the goat tying average and placed 6^th in the first round of the barrel racing.

Freshman Kaitlynn Idler, Laramie, WY, was 4^th in the average of the breakaway roping. Sophomore teammate Baily Coombs, Wellington, CO, also qualified for the short round.

In the steer wrestling, freshman Tegun Spring, Wall, SD, split 1^st in the first round with a time of 4.6 seconds. Teammate Donald Quick, freshman, Craig, CO, also qualified for the short round.

Freshman Justin Chasek, Mitchell, NE, qualified for the short round of the team roping with partner and brother Jake Chasek who competes for Chadron State College.

The Lancers will conclude their spring rodeo season April 22-24 in Laramie, WY.