STEPHENVILLE, Texas — The Tarleton State women’s rodeo team sits atop the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region standings as the spring season kicks out of the chute Feb. 23-25 at Odessa College.
Tarleton has eight women in the top 10 regional spots in goat tying, and three each in breakaway roping and barrel racing.
“We’re excited for the spring semester,” said assistant coach Brittany Stewart. “Everyone is working hard and firing on all cylinders.”
Goat tying specialist Rayme Jones is second in the region entering the second half of the 2022-23 season, with teammates Tori Brower and Mary Risse tied for third and Shyanne Bauerle in fifth.
Acey Pinkston leads Tarleton barrel racers, earning third place in the fall, trailed by Jordan Driver in fifth and Rylan Heller in eighth.
Tarleton’s men, the reigning national champions, are third in the region. Their 1,720-point first half trails just first-place Western Texas College and runner-up Clarendon College. The effort has been led by team roping headers Wyatt Bray, Korbin Rice and Thomas Allen, who hold the region’s top three spots.
Four Tarleton saddle bronc riders — Lance Gaillard, Brody Wells, Cash Wilson and Ira Dickinson — are in the top 10; bareback riders John Berry, Jake Kesl and Payton Lackey are in third, sixth and 10th positions, respectively; and bull riders Jacob Carige and Riggen Hughes are knotted in sixth along with tie-down roper Wyatt Crandall.
Following Odessa will be the Ranger College Rodeo, March 23-25 in Sweetwater; the Western Texas College Rodeo in Snyder, March 30-April 1; the NIRA stop at Howard College, April 13-15; and the regular-season finale, the Tarleton Stampede in Stephenville, April 20-22.
A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.