Finishing in style: Cowgirls rodeo team places 2nd at CNFR

LARAMIE – George Howard has been the University of Wyoming rodeo coach for the past 34 years.

And he knew by looking at who qualified for Saturday's short go of the College National Finals Rodeo that his Cowgirls had a chance to do something special at the Casper Events Center.

And they did.

Cowgirls senior Amelia Anderson recorded a time of 6.5 seconds in the short go of goat tying to place second in the go and second nationally, and junior Kailee Webb placed third in the short go of barrel racing in 14.45 seconds for third overall.

Their efforts were enough to lift the Cowgirls from seventh to second in the team standings, the highest finish for UW women's program since winning the 2009 national title.

"We knew that some of the teams above us in the rankings weren't coming back in the short round and we had two women who we felt would do really well," Howard said. "We were well represented and they did a fantastic job."

The Cowgirls finished with 355 points, 130 behind national champion Sam Houston State's 485.

Eastern New Mexico was third at 345 and UNLV was fourth (312.5).

Anderson had four steady runs in goat tying to earn her second-place finish.

The Forsyth, Montana, native had runs of 6.4, 6.7 and 6.7 seconds in the first three rounds, never placing higher than seventh.

But in the short go, Anderson went low at 6.5 seconds to place second.

"I'm so proud of myself for being the national runner up," Anderson said. "I came in sixth and made it to the (second) position. I just went out there and made the run I thought I could make."

Webb had her three runs in barrel racing in the first two days of CNFR and was in first in the average all the way until Friday. The Isabel, South Dakota, cowgirl had times of 14.53, 14.61 and 14.36 seconds, including winning the first round.

Webb started Saturday's short go in second, then ran a time of 14.45 seconds in the short go to place fifth and third in aggregate at 57.95.

All of what Webb did came one year after an injury at last year's CNFR, where she injured her knee after hitting a railing while entering the arena.

"(Webb) was a little apprehensive about going back in that arena at first, but once we helped her get her horse around the corners (of the arena), which is kind of treacherous, she was good," Howard said.

The Cowgirls also had junior Casey Reimler and freshman Cori Terry compete in goat tying at CNFR.

"I'm just proud to be associated with these girls," Howard said. "We've come a long ways and they've done an outstanding job. We can do some more in the future real quick. They've all been to the college finals know and they'll all want to go back. We'll be pretty good next year."

The UW men's team ended up in 20th place with 225 points as team ropers Denton and Dusty Taylor and saddle bronc rider Wyatt Hageman had their ups and downs

Hageman was sixth in the second round with 71 points and ninth in the third round at 69.5, but also had two no scores to finish 13th.

The Taylor brothers' best finish was third in the third round at 5.3 seconds, but also missed times in two of the four rounds to place 12th.

Still, Howard sees a promising future for his Cowboys.

"We've been able to recruit some good individuals and we've got a lot of good ones in the program, too, that didn't quite qualify," he said. "We had three in the national finals and we still finished 20th in the nation. At one time at the end of the third round we were sitting in fifth. I know they're capable of doing good things."