Cowgirls come up short for chance at repeat

by UW Media Services

CASPER -- It’s going to be a long summer for Nikki Steffes and her University of Wyoming Cowgirl teammates.

Especially Steffes, who lost the national goat tying title Saturday night by just one-tenth of a second. For the second straight year.

And the Cowgirls’ chances of winning the College National Finals Rodeo ended early in the night when two UW women busted out in the breakaway roping competition.

But none of the disappointment from any of the team members could compare to what Steffes endured Saturday night at the Casper Events Center. Coming in as the national leader in her favorite event, Steffes was the last of 12 competitors up, with the highest qualifier’s time tying first. The lowest time goes last. One by one the women tied their goats and the last two competitors before Steffes, Megan Albrect of New Mexico State University and Kobi Olineck of Dickinson State University, were tied for the lead with a four-head run of 27.6. All Steffes needed was to tie her goat in 6.8 seconds or less to win the event outright. She had a seven-second run. One-tenth of a second off the two leaders. A repeat of 2007.

A year ago, Steffes entered the short go as the national leader, but she finished just behind teammate Kayla Nelson, who repeated as the national champion.A visibly disappointed Steffes broke out in tears later in the evening. What cost the Vale, S.D., junior the national title was when she somehow dropped the goat’s front leg as she attempted to tie three legs. That split second was the difference.

“I didn’t have to see the time to know that I didn’t win it. I knew immediately when I threw my hands up … it wasn’t the run I wanted,” she said between sobs. “I was going for first place and it just didn’t work out.”

This performance may be even harder to forget than a year ago. After finishing second last summer, Steffes admitted she didn’t tie a goat for more than a month. She kept replaying in her mind what she could have done differently.

“This one definitely cuts a little bit deeper. To have the same thing happen two years in a row …I’m sure I’ll be replaying this one quite a bit,” she said.

She also placed ninth in barrel racing. The Cowgirls came into the short go with the most chances (five) to score points and perhaps win back-to-back national titles. But it was not the Cowgirls’ night they finished fourth with 368.3 team points. UNLV won the crown with 470.

“It didn’t go our way, but we’ll be back again next year,” Steffes said.

The breakaway roping event did in the Cowgirls earlier in the evening when the team’s two highly-rated competitors, Sarah Mulholland and TaNaye Carroll, both missed their calves in an event that saw only half the 12-woman field have successful runs. And two of those also came with 10-second penalties.

UW Coach George Howard had earlier said that it would take successful ropes and ties to win the title — and a little luck. Neither happened.

First up was Carroll who was coming in as the fifth-rated breakaway roper. The La Junta, Colo., had a tough go from the outset when her horse broke out of the box late. By then the calf got away and Carroll had to play catch up and missed on her long attempt.

Just two minutes later was teammate, Mulholland, who held the national lead for one day earlier in the week. She came in tied for second. The Richland Center, Wis., junior and her horse came out cleanly and the Cowgirls got off a quick throw. But her loop slipped over the calf’s head, leaving her with the team’s second consecutive no time. And with that, the chances of the team repeating as CNFR champs died. Even with their misses, Mulholland finished seventh in the overall average, while Carroll was two places back. Carroll also finished fifth in goat tying.

Two UW Cowboys reached Saturday night’s short go. It came down to the last tie down roper of the night to determine if roper Jake Platt, a sophomore from Ellensburg, Wash., would win the national title. Coming out of the No. 4 spot, Platt had his best effort of the entire week at 9.3 seconds, giving him a four-round time of 43.8 putting him into the overall temporary lead. Two other ropers ahead of Platt failed to surpass him and all that was left was the national leader, New Mexico State University’s Johnny Salvo, who needed a sub 11-second time to win it all. The Aggie tied his calf in 9.5 seconds, but he had to wait to see if the calf remained tied on the ground for the required six seconds. For the entire time the calf tried to get up and shake free, but he never did, leaving Pratt as the national runner-up.

Salvo won the round at 41.6, more than two second ahead of the UW Cowboy. Pratt, making his first CNFR appearance, won the regional tie down roping this past season.The only other UW Cowboy to compete in the championship round was team roper T.J. Teague and partner Quincy Opela of Eastern Wyoming College. They had a 12.7 final run for a four-round time of 47.2.