Jeff Askey, who received an animal science degree at the University of Tennessee-Martin, swept the entire weekend by winning the finals and also became the 2010 season champion. TMP/B. Walker

Forty of the top bull riders in the organization faced off with some of the toughest bulls in the nation in the three-day event.

Jeff Askey, who received an animal science degree at the University of Tennessee-Martin, swept the entire weekend by winning the finals and also became the 2010 season champion.

“I had this goal set for a little while and it feels good to accomplish it,” Askey said after Sunday’s award ceremony.

Askey was one of a few riders that rode three bulls during the weekend. He scored during the first and second round, but was thrown off during Sunday’s third round.

However, his weekend score was high enough that ranked him in the top 10 for the finals, a position that earned him a spot into the 10-rider final round called the short-go.

The short-go works starts with the top 10 riders based on that weekend’s accumulated points being matched up against the toughest bulls in SEBRA.

Askey, a Beech Creek, Penn. native, came into the finals as the No. 1 ranked rider in SEBRA.

In the short-go, he faced a bull, “Doc Holiday” that had bucked him off during an event in the previous summer. This time, however, he stayed on it for the entire 8 seconds and it earned him a finals and a national championship.

“I wanted to show that I was better than that bull,” Askey said. “It feels satisfying to ride one that has thrown me off before.”

Besides a new bull riding champ being crowned, the barrel-racing event came down to the very end with Teresa Quay becoming the national champ.

The Urbana, Ohio native barely beat Casey Rom, also from the Buckeye state by a narrow margin. Rom, however, did not drive back to the Great Lakes region empty handed when she won the finals.

“It means a lot, because I’ve run hard all year," Quay said after earning her awards. “It was a real nailbiter, so I’m real excited.” She also added she and Rom are good friends and their riding brings out the best in each other.

Quay, who has been competed in the sport since 1999, has been on the same horse named Chance for several years and developing a relationship with it is very important in doing well in this sport.

Another factor that determines a champion in barrel racing is the line they have to take around the three barrels on the course without knocking one over.

For Quay riding on the edge of going fast and being close to the barrel almost cost her a national championship on Saturday night, when she knocked one down during Saturday’s evening run.

Some of the fastest times on the course were more than 15 seconds. Quay was not happy when she put it down on the ground, but she bounced back on Sunday.

“I was just very upset, especially when it comes down to a championship,” Quay said. “You try to remember everything you have to do in 15 seconds, when there are a lot of prizes and awards on the line.”