Five UW Team Members to Compete in CNFR Short Go Saturday

Five University of Wyoming team members will compete on college rodeo’s biggest stage Saturday night in the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

After three full rounds of competition this week, the five Cowboys and Cowgirls will go head-to-head with the nation’s best in the College National Finals Rodeo short go. The top 12 individuals with the best marks and times will compete for individual national titles in the six men’s and three women’s events.

Qualifying for UW are:

-- Bodie Mattson, of Sturgis, S.D., in tie down roping, enters the championship round third in the average at 28.4 seconds on three head. He trails leader Kincade Henry, of Texas A&M University-Commerce, by 3 seconds. West Texas A&M University’s Quade Hiatt is just three-10ths of a second ahead of Mattson as the No. 2 roper.

-- Thermopolis’ Emme Norsworthy is the highest ranking UW Cowgirl to reach the short go round. She enters the barrel racing competition in the fifth spot with a three-round time of 42.59 seconds and sits sixth in the average. She is just one second off of the leader’s pace: West Alabama’s Taycie Matthews leads the competition at 41.59 seconds on her three runs.

-- Kenna McNeill, from Hobbs, N.M., is sixth in the goat tying competition at 18.6 seconds. She trails the leader -- Kristin Reaves, of Sam Houston University -- by just five-10ths of a second in a tight race among the top seven finalists. She had the third round’s best time at 5.8 seconds.

-- Kemmerer’s Donny Proffit is seventh in the bareback riding competition going into the short go with 230.5 points. Weston Timberman, of Clarendon College, leads the pack with 240.5 points.

-- Cam Jensen, of Hyannis, Neb., and partner Tanner McInerney, of Gillette College, snuck into the short go round covering two head in team roping. The pair enter the finals in the final spot available at the No. 12 position with a time of 13.7 seconds.

The UW Cowgirls jumped to the number four position in team points with 220 -- just 25 out of third place. The University of West Alabama leads the women’s standings heading into the short go with 473.33 points; Montana State University is next at 288.33; and Cal poly State University-San Luis Obispo is third with 245 points.

The Cowboys are 13th in the men’s team race with 215 points, with Clarendon College leading the way with 495. McNeese State University is second in the standings with 425 points and next is Missouri Valley College with 335.

Only one UW competitor was up in the final night that ended the third round.

Gillette’s Sage Kohr competed in two events; however, her earlier performances did not have the results she was looking for, leaving her out of the average. But, she came in looking for a shot at adding third-round points for her Cowgirl teammates. Kohr responded with her best barrel racing time of the week at 14.09 seconds -- the final round’s third-best time. She finished at 52.23 on her three runs.

Earlier, Kohr had a no-time in breakaway roping, managing to get in just one clean run during the week.