Each time she steps into the rodeo arena, University of Wyoming cowgirl Nikki Steffes knows something bad could happen.

She could trip and fall on her dismount in goat tying, or watch the goat kick loose of her knot.

She could break the barrier or miss her loop in breakaway roping.

She could tip a barrel in barrel racing.

"There are so many variables, so many things that could go wrong," Steffes says. "It's not easy."

She only makes it look that way.

The defending national all-around champion continued her winning ways during the Central Rocky Mountain Region fall season, racking up enough points to sit among the top five contestants in all three women's events.

Nationally, Steffes ranks second in goat tying and third in the all-around standings to lead a Cowgirls team that has all but clinched its third consecutive regional championship. Wyoming will carry a staggering 1,537-point lead over second-place Central Wyoming College into the CRMR's spring season.

"She just keeps getting better and better," Wyoming coach George Howard said. "She's got a taste of success, and she wants more."

Steffes was dominant in the CRMR's four fall rodeos, winning three all-around titles and recording eight top-five finishes (four in goat tying and two in breakaway roping and barrel racing).

Her greatest competition has come from teammates TaNaye Carroll, a kinesiology junior from La Junta, Colo., and Sarah Mulholland, a nursing junior from Richland Center, Wis. And that, Steffes says, is a good thing.

Carroll tops the regional breakaway roping standings, ranks second to Steffes in the all-around chase and sits third in goat tying. Mulholland trails Steffes by 145 points in goat tying, good for second place, and ranks ninth in breakaway roping.

"We have an amazing team, and I think every single girl we have is so capable of winning at every rodeo," Steffes, a molecular biology/medical microbiology junior from Vale, S.D., said. "We're all getting better because we're practicing against each other every day. I know that practicing with TaNaye and Sarah has made me a tougher competitor."

Although Steffes says her fall season was "great," she wasn't completely satisfied.

In fifth place in barrel racing, 210 points out of first place, Steffes says she's considering switching horses, from Doc to Captain, this spring.

With uncertainty in her voice, Steffes says, "I haven't exactly decided yet.

"Captain is a young horse, but I know he has the potential to be even better than Doc."

If Captain's potential pans out, Steffes' challengers could be in trouble. Aboard Doc, Steffes placed second in goat tying and eighth in barrel racing at the 2007 College National Finals Rodeo in Casper.

Says Howard, "I've seen her at practice, she tells (Doc), 'If you don't do better …"

"She's just such a competitor."

That passion for competition, Steffes says, drives her each day.

"Winning the national championship last year was amazing, because I'd worked all my life for that. But this is a new year," Steffes says. "I'm a competitor, and I want to win in anything I do. The same goes in school. I don't want to just get an 'A.' I want to get the best 'A.'

"It's just a love of competition that keeps me going. I'm always going to strive to be the best I can be."