CASPER, Wyo. - University of Wyoming cowgirl Nikki Steffes, who is from Vale, won the women's all-around title at the College National Finals Rodeo on Saturday.
Steffes, whose Wyoming Cowgirls also dominated the team title, picked up 297-1/2 points to win the all-around honor by 122-1/2 points. The sophomore took fourth in the goat-tying final after a time of 6.8 seconds, and also tallied an eighth-place overall finish in barrel racing.
National American University had four participants make the finals, however, the team did not finish as well as they'd hoped to.
"We didn't have the finals we were looking forward to," Mavericks head coach Glen Lammers said. "We just didn't have things go our way."
"(But) we are definitely proud of them making the finals. Everybody tried hard and they pulled together as a team. We had a lot of success here at the finals, but sometimes we have to take the bad with the good."
The Mavs had a pair of cowgirls in the goat-tying final. Lacey Curr ended up in eighth-place. She had a time of :7.2 in the finals. Jessica Painter, last year's breakaway champion, suffered a no time in the finals when her calf broke from the ropes.
In tie-down roping, Tyler Thiel also suffered a no time.
"He had a real good start, but the calf made a tough move," Lammers noted.
Krista Minow also made the barrel racing final for NAU.
"She tipped two barrels," Lammers added. "That was unlike her. She made the final round last year, but things did not work out tonight.
"It wasn't our finals this year."
Neither NAU team managed to finish in the top-10.
Agar's Joe Gunderson, a cowboy at South Dakota State, finished in a tie for third overall in bareback riding.
SDSU's Tait Kvistad had a good finals performance in steer wrestling and had the third-best time of the night at 5.5 seconds.
Ranger College, a two-year school in Ranger, Texas, earned a total of 917-1/2 through four rounds of competition to win the men's team title.
Freshman Tilden Cooper, from Panola College in Carthage, Texas, won the bareback riding event.
