UW Women Second, Men Third in Opening Rodeo

It’s been a long time, but perhaps the University of Wyoming women’s rodeo team will be a contender this season in the Central Rocky Mountain Region.

The Cowgirls opened the fall portion of the 2015-16 season with a solid performance, splitting second place with two other teams at the opening rodeo, hosted by Central Wyoming College (CWC) in Riverton last weekend.

The UW men’s team also had a good opening rodeo, finishing third, just 40 points out of first place.

Both Gillette College teams posted opening weekend victories in the first of five fall rodeos.

The Pronghorn women began the new season with 385 points, scoring all their points in just two events, while the Cowgirls were the runners-up with 190 points. They tied for second with Lamar College and Chadron State College.

In a tight three-way finish, the Gillette team took men’s honors with 475 points, while Chadron State placed second with 440 points, and the Pokes were only five points behind with 435.

A pair of UW Cowgirls carried the team by scoring 110 of the club’s points. Josee Vogel, of Pavillion, who was added to the four-member UW team late in the week, placed fifth in the goat-tying average. In the same event, Amelia Anderson, of Forsythe, Mont., split first place in the opening round, but ran into trouble in the short go and did not place in the overall average.

Kailee Webb, of Isabel, S.D., scored the final 80 points for the UW women, turning fifth place in the barrel-racing average. She posted the best opening-round time, but faltered in the short go and did not place in the round’s top six.

UW Coach George Howard may have finally found a bull rider for his men’s team -- in fact, two of them.

Teammates Jacob Smith and Jess Davison scored a whopping 200 points in rodeo’s toughest event.

Smith, of LaSalle, Colo., won the opening round, but did not mark in the short go. His 79 points held up for second in the average. UW teammate Davison, from Miles City, Mont., also marked on just one bull, but his opening 77-point ride was good enough for third in the average.

Davison, who was the all-around cowboy at the CWC rodeo, placed second in tie down roping, thanks to the second-best time in the short go. He split the runner-up spot in the average, scoring 120 points in the event.

Steer wrestler Dillon Simonson, of Purdum, Neb., showed no ill effects of major knee surgery when he placed second in his specialty event. The only senior on the men’s six-man UW team was the top bulldogger a year ago until a serious knee injury wrecked his season. He had the second-best mark in the short go at CWC and finished second in the average.

The final 10 team points for the Pokes came from bareback rider Jaden Clark. The Wellfleet, Neb., junior was sixth place in the opening round, but did not mark in the short go.

Regional teams are back in action this weekend at the Chadron State College rodeo.

For a complete list of team and individual results from the CWC rodeo, click here.