The Maverick women’s rodeo team achieved a mark in March that only a handful of Colorado Mesa University (CMU) teams can lay claim to: a #1 ranking in the country.
With the ranking, they join some prestigious company. Cycling, which is also ranked first in the country at the moment, women’s rugby, women’s swim and dive, men’s basketball and baseball are the only teams that have been ranked as the best in their respective sport or won an outright championship.
“I put quite a bit of stake in this ranking for its significance to our program. It is proof of the program’s growth and a testament to the women’s team and the caliber of athlete that we’ve been able to attract, train, and grow, and of course a testament to the athletes themselves and their skills, talent and work ethic,” Head Coach Brandon Edwards said.
The ranking is especially noteworthy, because it encompasses the entirety of collegiate rodeo and not just a division, like Division II for instance. In other words, women’s rodeo is the absolute best team in the nation, regardless of any differentiations.
The Mavericks have a couple of athletes ranked at the top of their respective events.
Wylee Mitchell is a reigning regional champion, last season’s Rookie of the Year and is currently first ranked in barrels. Meanwhile, program stallworth Mckenna Clingman looks for her second regional title in three years and currently sits at first in goat tying and seventh in breakaway.
Mitchell is currently ranked first in barrels.
She is joined by teammate Justise Jones who is fifth in breakaway, second in goat tying and top-20 in barrels which results in a #1 standing in the All Around category.
CMU rodeo has steadily been building up their caliber as a program for over a decade. However, the team really burst onto the scene last season when the women cracked into the top-10 and qualified for nationals for the first time in team history. Like any sport, rising through the ranks begins with good recruiting.
“Our first priority is to recruit athletes that have the work ethic and character to improve and be positive additions to our team culture and community first. Talent is obviously important, but we feel that if someone has all the attributes of a good person we can help them improve and be positive additions to our team culture and community first,” Edwards said.
Rodeo has the dual benefit of being a prestigious program and being at a university with a plethora of programs and relatable faculty to attract recruits.
“The rodeo team is absolutely what brought me to CMU, but learning about the Mass Communications program finalized my choice. When I was a senior in high school my mom and I came to tour the rodeo facility and also went to a Mesa Experience. There, I met Professor Elaine Venter and she truly sold the academic side of CMU to me. The combination of knowing I could be a part of CMU TV and the CMU Rodeo team is why I decided to spend four years in Grand Junction,” Mitchell said.
A legacy of crafting a positive team culture has resulted in a tight-knit group of athletes according to the team members.
“The team vibe is very rare. There are no words to describe the level of support and love that is shared between the 30 of us. For the last three years we have always been a very close group of friends. Once your college rodeo experience is over, rodeo goes back to being an individual sport, and getting to spend your college years on a team like CMU is very rare, and nothing compares quite to it,” Barrel racer Izzy Yama said.
The Mavericks have competed in nine rodeos already, meaning they have one more left in the season to maintain or build on their #1 standing (National Standings – NIRA – National Intercollegiate Rodeo AssociationNIRA – National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (collegerodeo.com)). Fans set an attendance record at CMU’s home rodeo on April 12 and 13 and watched the women take the team victory, led by Clingman. Meanwhile, Kayden Henderson won the rodeo on the men’s side. The women’s team are in a strong position to carry their first-place ranking into the NIRA nationals on June 9.
