UW Cowgirls Close out Fall Rodeo Season on Top |  
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Oct. 22, 2007 -- Four fall rodeos, four University of Wyoming Cowgirl wins.
Predictable, but the surprising part of the team's season-ending competition was that the club's two-season points leader didn't win the all-around competition for the first time this fall.
The Cowgirls turned in another dominating performance, completing the fall portion of the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) by sweeping all four rodeos, including Sunday's Shawn Dubie Memorial at Laramie County Community College (LCCC) in Cheyenne.
Led by the all-around performance of TaNaye Carroll, a La Junta, Colo., junior, the Cowgirls rolled to another one-sided win at the LCCC rodeo. Carroll won the goat tying competition and split first with Central Wyoming College's (CWC) Jessica Picchietti in breakaway roping as she and her teammates racked up 690 points to easily outdistance the runner-up Lady Rustlers, who had 385. It marked the fourth consecutive rodeo that the Cowgirls topped their point production from the previous event.
For the season, the Cowgirls have 2,335 overall team points -- compared to CWC's 788 -- putting them second in the national standings behind Montana State University.
However, the Big Sky Region, in which MSU competes, has held five fall rodeos while the CRMR teams have competed in four events.
During last season's national championship run, the Cowgirls also swept the fall season and won nine of 10 CRMR team titles. Also, points leader Nikki Steffes nearly swept the all-around title at each rodeo, winning eight out of 10 rodeos.
Steffes' string of three consecutive titles this season ended to teammate Carroll at LCCC when the Vale, S.D., junior placed second in the all-around competition. But for the season, Steffes, the defending national all-around champion, still holds a commanding 960-645 point margin against Carroll.
In Cheyenne, Carroll won the opening goat tying round and won the average when she placed second in the short go. Teammate Sarah Mulholland, Richland Center, Wis., junior, placed second to Carroll and Steffes placed fifth.
Carroll had two consistent breakaway roping rounds, placing second in the long go and fourth in the short go, but her combined times were good enough to split the average.
The Cowgirls also received major points in the event when Michele Malone, senior from Keenesburg, Colo., added third place points and Steffes split fourth place with CWC's Annie Joanette.
Steffes scored the team's final 10 points in barrel racing, qualifying for the short go.
Heading into the spring season, it appears that Coach George Howard has a set four-member team with Carroll, Malone, Mulholland and Steffes -- the same lineup he has used for the final two rodeos.
For the year, Steffes, Carroll and Mulholland dominate the top three goat tying positions, while Carroll also is tied for the breakaway roping lead with Casper College's Katie Felix. Malone is fourth in the event and Steffes is fifth.
Steffes, who won both the goat tying and barrel racing events last year, is currently fourth in the region's barrel racing standings.
It's different story for the UW men who have yet to find any consistency this fall. At LCCC, the team had it's worst performance of the year, scoring just 50 points from bareback rider James Baldwin, a senior from Rawlins.
The Cowboys finished eighth among the 10 teams scoring points in Cheyenne. For the year, CWC, sitting fourth in the nation, is the runaway regional leader with 3,150 points, while newcomer Gillette College has 1,275. The Cowboys are in fifth with 995 points.
Only the two top regional teams advance to the College National Finals Rodeo next June in Casper.
EWC's Ty Kenner won the all-around title at LCCC and regional leader Seth Glause of CWC placed second.
Listed are the team points from the LCCC rodeo and top six individuals in the average:
Women's team scores -- University of Wyoming (UW), 690; Central Wyoming College (CWC), 385; Colorado State University (CSU), 170; Gillette College (GC), 150; Lamar Community College (LCC), 115; Laramie County Community College (LCCC), 100; Eastern Wyoming College (EWC), 15; Northeastern Junior College (NJC), 10.
Men's team scores -- CWC, 695, LCC, 465; GC, 360; Casper College (CC), 300; EWC, 285; NJC, 170; Sheridan College (SC), 93.3; UW, 50; Chadron State College (CSC), 40; CSU, 5.
Barrel racing -- Taylor Miniat, CSU, 33.02; Jessi Cates, GC, 33.07; Kiley Scott, CC, and Michelle Robinson, LCC, both 33.38; Jordan Hodges, UW, 33.42; Nikki Steffes, UW, 33.58.
Breakaway roping -- TaNaye Carroll, UW, and Jessica Picchietti, CWC, 5.6; Michele Malone, UW, 6; Nikki Steffes, UW, and Annie Joanette, CWC, both 6.2; Megan Rankin, EWC, 7.3.
Goat tying -- TaNaye Carroll, UW, 14.8; Sarah Mulholland, UW, 15; Chelsea Moore, CWC, 15.2; Tia Brannan, LCCC, 15.4; Nikki Steffes, UW, and Kelsey Smith, UW, 16.3.
Saddle bronc riding -- Kaleb Asay, CC, 159; Blaze Hamaker, CWC, 151; Seth Glause, CWC, 148; Merritt Smith, UW, 142; Colt Hamaker, CWC, 136; Ty Kenner, EWC, 77 on one.
Bareback riding -- Ty Kenner, EWC, 155; Joe Mundorf, CWC, 146; Troy Brechen, CC, 142; James Baldwin, UW, 134; Jake Voigt, SC, 126; Colston Loveland, GC, 123.
Bull riding -- Ty Hamaker, CWC, 159; Jack Leiseth, EWC, 149; Douglas Owens, UW, 137; and Tyler Shelstad, LCCC, 82; Seth Glause, CWC, 81; Chance Kvistad, CSC, 80, all on one.
Calf roping -- Jason Hubbard, UW, 19.6; Brice Ingo, LCC, 21.7; Lex Geer, GC, 24.4; Chason Floyd, GC, 24.6; Cody Sierks, EWC, 24.9; Cameron Weddle, NJC, 25.3.
Steer wrestling -- Brad Johnson, GC, 13.1; Chason Floyd, GC, 14.6; Cameron Weddle, NJC, 15.8; Vance Steedley, SC, 15.9; Clint Doll, GC, 17.7; Hadley Berger, UW, 5.6 on one.
Team roping -- Tyler and Justin Viles, UW, 16.2; Cole Dorenkamp, EWC/Josh Filmore, EWC, 22.2; and Austin Laramore, Regis University/Casey Adams, CSU, 6.9; Cody Meyer, NJC/Cole Smith, NJC, 8.6; Clayton Miller, SC/Kyle DeSaveur, SC, 8.8; Phil Schuman, CSU/Clay Hill, Front Range Community College, and Josh Stuffer, EWC/Jake Anderson, EWC, 9.1, all on one.
Photo
TaNaye Carroll, a junior from LaJunta, Colo., won the all-around title last weekend at the LCCC rodeo to lead the Cowgirls to their fourth consecutive win this fall.
Posted on Monday, October 22, 2007
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