UW’s Mousel Stuns With a 5.7 in CNFR Goat Tying Competition Wednesday

All Josie Mousel needed to know that she had made a near-perfect goat tying run was the crowd’s reaction at Wednesday night’s College National Finals Rodeo performance.

The University of Wyoming Cowgirl tried not to look up at the big video screen at the end of the arena, but she knew it was something special that even stunned her: an incredible 5.7-second time, the best of the competition this week.

“It’s all a blur, honestly,” a breathless Mousel said outside the arena. “I tried not to look up at the video screen, but I heard the crowd, and I knew that it was really fast. I honestly didn’t think it was that fast, but it felt good.”

Mousel has never hit that mark during her collegiate career -- she had a 6-flat as a high school sophomore back in Colman, S.D.

Her time on her final run shot her to contention for a possible national goat tying title, moving her from 21st in the average to second in the nation with just two rounds of competition left. Her three-run aggregate time is now 20.1 seconds, which trails the top time of 18.9 set by Madalyn Richards of Texas A&M.

Mousel says her first two runs earlier in the week at the Ford Wyoming Center were average, and she knew that she had to go for it Wednesday to make it back to Saturday’s championship round.

“I definitely rode my horse a lot harder,” she says. “The run I made tonight, I’ve made a lot of those in practice, but a lot of times it doesn’t work in a rodeo. But I’m glad I did it.”

Mousel’s performance could really boost the Cowgirls in the national team standings. The UW women have the chance to send three team members to the goat tying short go. After Mousel’s performance, teammate Landry Haugen, of Sturgis, S.D., followed, stopping the clock in 6.6 seconds to give her a 20.7 on three. She currently is sitting fifth in the average.

A third team member, Riata Day, of Fleming, Colo., was the No. 2 competitor in the average after two rounds at 12.4 -- just a tenth of a second off the pace. She makes her final run Thursday, and a top time could give the Cowgirls a huge boost in the short go.

“We definitely push each other every day in practice,” Mousel says of her goat tying teammates. “Those girls definitely made me step up when I came to college. I know that I help them as well.”

A handful of UW team members also competed during Wednesday’s performance:

-- Rhett Witt’s three-round tie down roping season came to an end with a successful run at 10.8 seconds. Earlier in the week, the Valentine, Neb., Cowboy had the second round’s sixth-best time at 8.8 seconds, but he was hampered by a no-time during Monday’s first slack round.

-- The college careers of team roping partners Bodie Mattson, from Sturgis, S.D., and Troupe Coors, of Longmont, Colo., came to a close. After recording a pair of no-times earlier in the week, the pair had to settle for a 10.8 when a 5-second penalty was assessed when Coors managed to rope just one heel.

-- Emme Norsworthy, of Thermopolis, saw her chances of a possible short go bid end when she tipped over the third barrel in the barrel racing competition. A 10-second penalty left her with a 29.50 time.

-- Bull rider Stefan Tonita, of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, was bucked off Devil’s Eye in 5.2 seconds for a no-time. He did not cover on three head this week.