LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama Men's and Women's Rodeo teams are set to compete for the College Rodeo National Finals in Casper, Wyoming next week, with UWA performances slated to begin on Tuesday.
West Alabama's Women's squad consisting of Sydney Poole, Ashley Henderson, Joanna Hammett, and Katelyn Carney is seeking their third consecutive National Championship. The Men's team will feature Tanner Brown, Clarke Gordon, Cooper Cowan, Kota Wilhite, Stone Reeves, and Wilder Andrews and look to collect their first title.
The schedule for Championship Week in Casper, Wyoming can be seen below:
Sunday - Two matinees at 1:00PM & 4:00PM that features Bulls, Broncs, and Breakaway Roping.
Monday - Slack set to begin at 7:00AM and will run through the evening to conclude Round One.
Tuesday - Slack set to begin at 7:00AM and will run until the afternoon to conclude Round 2.
For Round 3 will mark the beginning of performances at 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday-Friday - Night Performances are slated to start at 7:00PM.
Saturday Night - Short Round
All performances on Tuesday-Saturday will be aired on ESPN3.
WOMEN'S RODEO
After winning the Ozark Region Championship back in April, West Alabama's Women's team is destined to be one of the major favorites to take home the Championship come Saturday. The team of Poole, Henderson, Hammett, and Carney is as strong as it gets as all members of the quartet clinched individual hardware at the end of the regular season.
Leading the way is Poole who is the newly crowned All-Around Champion. The junior thrives in the Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing events, accumulating a total of 708.33 points throughout the year which was good enough to clinch the All-Around distinction by nearly 30 points. Poole will represent the Tigers in both the Breakaway Roping and Barrel Racing events as she brings 420 and 288.3 points in the event this season, respectively. Poole is set for her performances in both events on Wednesday.
Henderson is the Region Champion in Breakaway Roping and will be featured in the event alongside Poole. The Graduate Student's 540 total points in the event this season easily led the Region and ranked eighth in the country. Henderson is slated to kick off UWA's performances on Tuesday as she enters the week as one of the favorites in the Breakaway Roping event.
Hammett will be the lone Tiger competing in the Goat Tying event after excelling in 2024-25. The senior was the Reserve Champion in the event, registering 685 total points throughout the year. Hammett is ready for her performance that's set for Wednesday.
As for Carney, she's made an immediate impact in her freshman campaign and will be key in West Alabama's efforts this week. Carney is the Reserve Champion in the Barrel Racing event, racking up 455 points this season. The Freshman is set to compete in her performance on Thursday.
MEN'S RODEO
West Alabama's Men's team enters Championship Week as the Reserve Champions in the Ozark Region. Similar to the Women's squad, Coach Poole's Men's team possesses the top All-Around athlete in the Region. Tanner Brown put together a special regular season for the Tigers, registering 1,805.50 total points. Brown thrives in the Tie Down Roping and Team Roping events as he was named the Region Champion in both events, with 775 points coming in the Tie Down Roping and 1,030.50 points coming in Team Roping as the Heeler. The senior is set for his performance in the Team Roping Event on Wednesday before his Tie Down Roping performance on Thursday.
Gordon will be featured in the Team Roping event alongside Brown as the Tigers' Header. Gordon is the reigning Region Champion as a Team Roping Header after accumulating 1,030.50 points throughout the season. The duo of Brown and Gordon has been the No. 1 ranked Team Roping duo in the country for months now and will be the favorites this upcoming week. The talented UWA tandem is set to compete in their performance on Wednesday.
Cowan rounds out the seven crowned Champions that will be competing for West Alabama. Cowan is the Reserve Champion in the Team Roping event as he brings 795 points as the Header. The senior is set to perform on Friday for UWA.
Wilhite, Reeves, and Andrews are the three selected athletes that will round out the Tigers' six-man team. Wilhite and Reeves and have lifted West Alabama's Tie Down Roping efforts all year as the duo enters the week with a 956 combined points in the event. As for Andrews, he's been instrumental in UWA's Team Roping efforts as a Heeler and is set to help the Tigers capture a title at the week's end.
The NIRA Finals are set to begin on Sunday with West Alabama's first performance set for Tuesday.
