Cowgirls take national rodeo lead

by UW Media Relations

The University of Wyoming Cowgirls’ rodeo team this weekend claimed the top spot in the national women’s standings after just three weekends of competition.

This marks the first time ever the UW women have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in team standings. Two years ago the Cowgirls won the College National Finals Rodeo team title, and a year ago, the women climbed as high as second in overall team points.

“I was excited last year when we were number two,” said UW Coach George Howard. “Last year, I thought it was the greatest thing in the world and now we’re number one and we’ve got two more rodeos to go in the fall season.”

The Cowgirls have scored 1,715 points after just three fall rodeos, including their third consecutive team title at last weekend’s Lamar (Colo.) Community College (LCC) competition. A week ago, then-national leader, the University of Montana-Western, had already scored 1,583 points, and that was after the Big Sky Region completed its five fall rodeos.

With two more weekends of competition remaining, UW will more than likely pad its overall National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association lead. The UW men are currently 15th in the nation, but the Cowboys also have competed only in three rodeos.

“That’s not bad either,” Howard says. “Our men are no slouches; this is good for both our teams.”

The UW men have 1,290 points, and trail national leader University of Montana-Western which has 3,312.5 points; but again, the Bulldogs have completed five rodeos.

The UW women have completely dominated the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) the last two seasons, winning 13 of the last 14 rodeos and finishing second in the other. With just this weekend’s Chadron State College and the following weekend’s Laramie County Community College rodeos remaining, the Cowgirls will be hard to catch during the spring season as the team looks to win its third consecutive CRMR team title.

UW holds a huge 785 point advantage against second place Gillette College in the latest regional standings. The Cowgirls held a 135-point advantage over the Pronghorns at last weekend’s LCC rodeo.

Driving the Cowgirls’ domination the last two seasons is the one-two-three punch of its senior trio of Nikki Steffes, TaNaye Carroll and Sarah Mulholland. They dominated the goat tying event at LCC, taking the top three positions. The team scored in just two of the three women’s events, but with the depth the Cowgirls have had the last two years, it doesn’t matter.

Steffes, a molecular biology major from Vale, S.D., is the regional all-around leader for the third consecutive season. She led the Cowgirl goat tiers followed by Mulholland, nursing, Richland Center, Wis., and Carroll, kinesiology, La Junta, Colo. Steffes added the final 120 points, finishing third in the barrel racing average. The senior sensation is second in the region in that event and is tied for the goat tying runner-up position with Mulholland. Carroll leads all tiers in the event, holding a slim 55-point lead over her teammates.

The UW men enter the final two weekends of the regional fall rodeo season just 45 points behind perennial champion Central Wyoming College.

In a tight competition last weekend, CWC managed first place with 540 points, but just 110 separated them from the fourth-place UW Cowboys.

The team was paced by Cody finance senior Tyler Viles, who combined with Eastern Wyoming College’s Jared Bilby to win the team roping competition. The duo are the regional leaders in the event. Viles also is the regional tie down roping leader, but did not place in the event last weekend.

Another Cowboy leads the region in his event. Gillette animal science sophomore Merritt Smith leads all saddle bronc riders and split first place at LCC with Casper College’s Travis Darling.
Jason Hubbard, an agricultural education senior from Wheatland, added fourth-place tie down roping points. He currently is third overall in the region. The team’s final points came from Chad Nelson, agricultural business senior from Buffalo, S.D., who scored in the steer wrestling competition but did not place in the average.

Listed are the team points followed by the top six individuals in the average:
Women’s team scores -- University of Wyoming (UW), 555; Gillette College (GC), 420; Lamar Community College (LCC), 230; Sheridan College (SC), 135; Colorado State College (CSU), 120; Central Wyoming College (CWC), 115; Eastern Wyoming College (EWC), 70; Northeastern Junior College (NJC), 50: Laramie County Community College (LCCC), 20.
Men’s team scores -- CWC, 540; EWC, 500; CC, 445; UW, 430; NJC, 370; Chadron State College (CSC), 360; GC, 320; LCC, 300; SC, 80; CSU, 55.Barrel racing -- Michelle Robinson, GC, 36.37; Amanda Welch, GC, 36.46; Nicki Steffes, UW, 36.56; Kaylee Moyer, EWC, 36.86;Taylor Miniat, CSU, 36.95; Hannah Mills. NJC, 37.
Breakaway roping -- Lacey Schuelke, SC, 5.6; Anna Haaland, GC, 6.4; Jessica Picchietti, CWC, and Chelsey Willhoite, LCC, both 6.6; Jessica Johnson, UW, 7.3; Sheanna Shipley, LCC, 15.7.
Goat tying -- Nicki Steffes, UW, 17.5; Sarah Mulholland, UW, 17.7; TaNaye Carroll, UW, 18.5; Echo Johnston, GC,19.2; Traci Hinman, CWC, 19.6; Chelsey Willhoite, LCC, 19.6.
Saddle bronc riding -- Merritt Smith, UW, and Travis Darling, CC, both 142; J.W. Moore, CC, 137. Only three on two.
Bareback riding -- Bryan Jones, CWC, 137; Ty Breuer, CWC, 136; Cheyenne Seymour, GC, 133; John Garman, SC, 117; Whitten Hoover, CSC, 114. Only five on two.
Bull riding -- Lane Lindsay, and Jake Buller, CWC, both 145; Cameron Weddle, NJC, 142; Ty Hamaker, CWC, 134; Cole Elshere, GC, 132. Only five on two.
Tie down roping -- Mitch McAdow, NJC, 20.3; Quincy Opela, EWC, 21.7; Troy Brandemuehl, UW, 22.1; Jason Hubbard, UW, 22.5; Jake Hamilton, CC, 22.8; Troy Kimmel, CSU, 23.
Steer wrestling -- Cole Dorenkamp, LCC, 10.3; Chason Floyd, GC, 10.6; John Franzen, UW, 10.7; Kyle Broce, NJC, 13; Troy Brandemuehl, UW, 13.4; Del Kraupie, CSC, 13.9.
Team roping -- Tyler Viles, UW/Jared Bilby, EWC, 15.3; Bill Svoboda/Trey White, CSC, 20; Amber Greenhalgh/Chance Threet, LCC, 25.6; O.J. Huxtable/Dustin Smith, CC, 30.8. Only four teams on two.