McNeese State University celebrated the careers and accomplishments of the 1980 Reserve National Champion men’s rodeo team members by inducting them into the 2022 McNeese Rodeo Hall of Fame.
The team – which consisted of five freshmen and one senior from Louisiana and Texas – finished second in the nation, six points behind five-time national collegiate rodeo champion Southeastern Oklahoma at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Bozeman, Montana.
Members include: Roland Clubb, Conifer, Colorado; Philip Fournier, Raceland; Mark Granger, Hackberry; David Porter, Leesville; Phil Smith, Emerson, Arkansas; and Troy Young, Opelousas (posthumously). Rodeo faculty adviser was Dr. James Brooks, a McNeese professor of biology.
McNeese rodeo competes in the Southern Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, the collegiate rodeo governing body headquartered in Walla Walla, Washington, which today consists of 11 regions with over 3,500 student-athletes.
Clubb qualified for the CNFR competition all four years at McNeese in saddle bronc riding. Both he and his dad, Hugh, won state titles in Texas high school rodeo. He works in environmental remediation and management.
Fournier is a lifetime leader, promoter and instructor of rodeo. At McNeese, he qualified for the 1980 and 1981 CNFR finals in bull riding, bareback riding and saddle bronc riding. In 1980, he was the CNFR all-around men’s reserve champion as well as reserve champion in bull riding. He is the only two-time inductee in the McNeese Rodeo Hall of Fame and his nephew, Shea Fournier, won the 2022 CNFR national saddle bronc riding championship representing McNeese.
Granger, an industrial emergency response specialist, qualified for the CNFR competition in both saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling.
Porter qualified three years for the CNFR competition in calf roping and team roping. He also won titles in calf roping and team roping in other amateur organizations and qualified five times for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) Southeastern Circuit finals. His sister, Kathy, also qualified for CNFR for McNeese and his son, Trace, won the CNFR reserve championship in team roping in 2015 for McNeese. Porter is the owner of a trucking company and is a cattleman.
At McNeese, Smith qualified for CNFR competitions in both bareback and bull riding. In the PRCA, he was an eight-time Great Lakes circuit bareback champion and qualified for the PRCA national finals rodeo three times in bareback riding. He now serves as a PRCA judge.
Young was one of only two McNeese students to ever win the Southern Region in team roping. He had a successful career as a thoroughbred trainer.
The McNeese Rodeo Hall of Fame preserves the rich rodeo traditions at McNeese and houses national and regional championship trophies, plaques of Hall of Fame inductees and historic photos.
