UW Men Dominate Third Straight Rodeo

For the third straight rodeo, the University of Wyoming men’s team surpassed 850 points to widen its overall lead in the Central Rocky Mountain Region (CRMR) at the halfway point of the fall season.

The Cowboys chalked up their third straight team title, again in dominating fashion. The UW men received balanced scoring throughout their lineup, getting scoring production from all six points team members in taking the Sheridan College rodeo Sunday afternoon.

The UW men scored 880 points through the weekend, while the host Generals were the men’s runners-up with 475 points. Casper College was third at 325.

The latest win upped the Cowboys’ CRMR lead to more than double their nearest competitor. After three rodeos, the UW men have compiled 2,790 points, while Laramie County Community College (LCCC) is a distant second, nearly 1,500 points behind the Cowboys with 1,300. Casper College is third in the regional standings at 1,160.

Entering the weekend, the Cowboys were second in the nation in team scoring, just 10 points behind front-running Montana State University.

UW newcomer Brice Patterson was UW’s leading scorer at Sheridan and, in turn, was the rodeo’s all-around champion. The Bozeman, Mont., competitor put up big numbers in two events, placing second in both. He was the bareback riding runner-up and finished second in the steer wrestling average.

“Brice has had a big impact on this program. He continues to improve in all of his events, and it’s been fun to watch him succeed,” UW Coach Beau Clark says. “Overall, it’s just great to see the hard work pay off and be rewarding for all of the UW rodeo athletes.”

Three different men’s points team members put up winning marks in taking their individual events:

-- Chadron Coffield, of Yuma, Colo., split the top time in calf roping with Sheridan College’s Corbin Fischer.

-- Cameron Jensen, from Hyannis, Neb., took the steer wrestling title and also added team roping points with partner Tanner Whetham, from Chadron State College. They were fifth in the average. Jensen also was third in the individual all-around.

-- Kemmerer’s Donny Proffit returned to his winning ways in bareback riding when he turned in the trifecta -- winning both the short and long go rounds and the average.

-- Austin Hurlburt, of Norfolk, Neb., recorded the fourth-best time in the bulldogging event’s opening round but did not place in the average.

-- Craig, Colo., native Garrett Uptain rounded out the Cowboys’ scoring by placing fifth in the bull riding average.

The UW Cowgirls’ one-week star atop the CRMR women’s standing lasted just one week as the UW team placed fourth at Sheridan College.

Casper College reclaimed the region’s top position, placing third with 275 points to take the lead by just 35 points over the Cowgirls. The Lady T-Birds have 845 points on the season, while the UW women are at 810.

LCCC won the women’s team title over the weekend with 450 points, while Gillette College scored 355 points, good for second place and third in the region at 775 points.

Taylour Latham, of Roosevelt, Utah, was the Cowgirls’ top performer. She had the second-best time in the short go, and that gave her the runner-up spot in the goat tying average.

Only two other UW Cowgirls among the four-member women’s team scored points during the weekend rodeo. Faith Hoffman, from Kiowa, Colo., scored points in the opening round of both breakaway roping and goat tying, but she didn’t place in the average in either event. Fleming, Colo., Cowgirl Riata Day had the fifth-fastest opening-round time in goat tying but did not place among the top competitors in the short go.

Action in the CRMR resumes this weekend in Riverton with the Central Wyoming College rodeo.