UW Teams Open With Mixed Results in CNFR Opening Day

It was a mixed bag in the opening day of competition for the University of Wyoming teams at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in Casper.

In a Sunday competition made for roughstock competitors and women’s breakaway ropers, “Bulls, Broncs & Breakaway” opened the first round of competition that will lead to earned bids to the short go finals Saturday night.

Two Cowgirl breakaway ropers on the women’s points team had different outcomes, while one Cowboy on the men’s points team recorded a mark in bronc riding and another CNFR qualifier for the UW men’s team had a no score in bull riding.

Coming off a strong spring season that propelled her to the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) breakaway roping title, Jordyn McNamee, of Cheyenne, opened her CNFR run with 3.5 seconds to put her among several others with recorded times.

“I was happy with my time because, in the first round, you don’t know what your calf is going to do -- so you have to be able to read it, but I did a good job with that,” McNamee says. “My calf was a little bit slower, and I thought I did as good of a job as I could.”

Her teammate, Landry Haugen, of Sturgis, S.D., who finished second to McNamee in the regional standings this past season, did not have a good opening run in her first CNFR. The UW freshman had a clean break out of the box, but right when Haugen was ready to pull the trigger, the calf took a sharp break to the right, causing the Cowgirl to come up empty.

In her first CNFR appearance, Olivia Lay, a sophomore from Elbert, Colo., was giddy with her opening breakaway roping performance, stopping the clock in a respectable 3.5 seconds.

“I’ve been struggling with my roping quite a bit, and I’ve been working on it,” Lay says. “Honestly, I’m really happy with my run today. There are still a lot of things I can work on. I’m just so glad that my calf didn’t break out; I’m happy with that.”

Lay, who is not on the four-member women’s points team this week, earned a CNFR bid on the strength of her third-place finish in the regional breakaway roping standings behind teammates McNamee and Haugen.

“I want this to be a fun experience,” Lay adds. “I want to go out there and do my job with my calves, make sure my horse is good and just go out there and have fun.”

Even though he marked in his opening round, UW bareback rider Colton Farrow, of Greybull, was hoping to score higher on Golden Girl, but he had to settle for 63.5 points in his first CNFR appearance.

“That horse was pretty long -- she had a lot of power. I kind of got my chin out, and it kind of got me stretched out,” Farrow says. “That was kind of a tough horse to ride, and it seemed like that from what people said. I asked some guys who have been on her, and they said the same thing.”

Farrow qualified for this week’s CNFR when he placed third overall in the CRMR bareback riding standings.

Jackson’s Emmit Ross wrapped up the afternoon for UW in bull riding, but he was tossed halfway through his eight-second ride on Get This. Ross, who is not on the Cowboys points team, was third in the CRMR bull riding standings this past season.