UW Cowboys Sixth in CNFR Team Standings With Two Short Go Qualifiers

The University of Wyoming women’s team still had a good chance of sending two Cowgirls into Saturday night’s short go round at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper. It did not happen.

Both Riata Day and Jordyn McNamee came away with heartbreaking final runs Friday night, leaving them just short of the 12 qualifiers. No Cowgirl will advance to the championship round; however, two UW roping teams will compete in collegiate rodeo’s biggest night.

UW heeler Quincy Reynolds, of Gillette, and team roping partner Trevor Sorge, from Gillette College, came through on their final run Friday, stopping the clock in 9.3 seconds to finish in the eighth position in the weeklong average. They totaled 16.7 seconds.

Only four roping teams had three successful times, leaving the competition open for competitors with two good runs to qualify for the short go. The championship round features the top 12 individual times and marks through three rounds.

UW’s other short-go qualifier, Bodie Mattson, UW’s all-around regional reserve champion this past season, will compete with partner Roan Weil, of Casper College, in team roping. The pair had two successful runs, including the week’s best time at 4.7 seconds Thursday night to put them ninth heading into the finals.

Mattson, from Sturgis, S.D., is on the UW points team. Reynolds was not among the six chosen for the Cowboys points team, but he qualified for the CNFR by finishing among the top three in the region this past season.

After three rounds, the UW men jumped from 10th place earlier in the week to sixth in the team standings with 315 points. Clarendon (Texas) College leads the pack with 315 points. The Cowgirls fell out of the top 10 and will end the season with 75 points -- good enough for 13th with the short go remaining. Tarleton State University, in Stephenville, Texas, leads the women’s division with 440 points.

The focus on the third round’s final night Friday was on two UW Cowgirls:

-- Day needed a final goat tying run of run of less than seven seconds to qualify. However, she came away with a 7.4-second run that was hampered when she stumbled approaching her goat. That left her sitting in the final 12th qualifying position with six competitors left on the night. The Fleming, Colo., graduate student had to sweat it out waiting for her fate. It came moments later when she was bumped to 13th overall.

She opened the week with the first round’s best time at 6.1 seconds and had a 7.5 in the second round. Here three-round time was 21 seconds.

--  The women’s  breakaway roping competition Friday was simply brutal. It was there for the taking for Cheyenne’s Jordyn McNamee, who needed just a 3-second run to move to fifth place in the nation.

The night’s round began with five no times, and four more competitors broke the barrier for 10-second penalties, resulting in double-digit times. Unfortunately, McNamee made it six no times in 11 runs.

The Cowgirl senior looked good coming out of the box, but her throw skidded over the calf’s head and fell off to the right. McNamee entered the night sitting in great position to earn a short-go bid with runs of 3.5 and 3.1 seconds on two runs.

“I know that -- and they know that, too -- they can compete with everybody out here. They deserve to be here,” UW women’s Coach Jaycee Hupp says of Day and McNamee. “I know they’re disappointed, but I know they will have a little fire under their tails to come back here next year and really do some damage.”

-- Mattson in tie down roping was out of the short-go average and had nothing to lose Friday night. The UW senior went for round points on his third run and came through with the third-best time at 8.8 seconds when he made a clean run and tie on his calf. He opened the week with an 11.6, but his short-her bid was halted with a second round no time when his calf broke out of its tie.

-- Greybull’s Colton Farrow’s bareback riding week came to an end when he was tossed by Merle halfway through his ride. He scored 63.5 and 67.5 points in the first two rounds earlier in the week.

-- Rio Nutter, from Rapid City, S.D., and Laramie County Community College’s Reece Wadhams in team roping also remained in contention for a short-go bid, but they needed a low time. They had a successful run but were saddled with a 9.3 time, leaving them 15th overall. Their two successful runs totaled 24.9 seconds.