Angelone
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 10, 2021
STEPHENVILLE, Texas — It’s just under 1,400 miles from Cross Junction, Va., to Stephenville, Texas, but that’s a trip Sarah Angelone was willing to make to be on the Tarleton State University rodeo team.
Sarah, the 2020-21 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region breakaway roping champion, will represent Tarleton at the College National Finals Rodeo next week in Casper, Wyo.
She was the national champion high school breakaway roper in 2016, and she came most of the way to Stephenville when she signed to compete at Weatherford College.
“I moved to Texas right out of high school,” she said. “I went to Weatherford and rodeoed for two years, but I knew I wanted to come here. I had kept up with Tarleton since I was in high school. It was definitely on my radar.”
Her rodeo trek began early as her father trained to be a roper when Sarah was brand new.
“We had no horses or rodeo history in the family before my dad decided he wanted to start rodeoing about the time I was born. He bought some horses and had some people help him, teach him to rope, then he taught me and my sister.”
A junior studying animal production, Sarah hopes to become an equine nutritionist.
“That’s been a goal of mine for a while. I really like helping horses feel their best and be the best they can be.”
The curriculum at Tarleton is preparing her to reach that goal. “The program has taken me a long way toward all the information I’ll need to graduate and go on with my career. The faculty does a great job of preparing us to be professionals.”
Success this season may take some of the sting out of a pandemic-shortened 2020, which saw the cancellation of late-season events and, ultimately, the CNFR.
“That was a hard year,” Sarah said. “I was sixth in the region, but there were a couple of rodeos left, and I was hoping to finish strong.”
Obviously, as a CNFR qualifier she had a standout 2020-21 season — first place at the Tarleton Stampede in April, second at the Vernon College Rodeo in the fall and tied for fourth at the Ranger College Rodeo.
With that success, she’s packing for a relatively short trip to Casper.
Only 1,034 miles. Nothing to it.
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.