LIVINGSTON – West Alabama head rodeo coach Daniel Poole is pleased to announce the signing of Rebecca St. Martin, an incoming women’s rodeo student-athlete for the 2021-22 season.

“We have fortunately been able to watch Rebecca compete for some time now in college rodeos,” Poole said. “She’s really been clicking with her new horse that she started riding in last year’s spring semester. We believe the two of them are going to be a great asset to our women’s team.”

St. Martin comes to UWA after attending the University of Mississippi and graduating from Our Lady Academy in St. Louis, Miss. During her high school career, she was named Mississippi High School Rodeo Champion Barrel Racer in 2015 and 2016.

St. Martin finished in the top-5 at the University of Arkansas – Monticello and Pearl River Community College rodeos as a collegiate athlete. She was also the reserve champion at the Northwest Community College rodeo in 2021.

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LIVINGSTON – West Alabama, Heather McLaughlin, finished fifth in the nation in goat tying at the 2021 College National Finals Rodeo.

“Heather laid it all on the line,” UWA head rodeo coach Daniel Poole said. “She was competing against the best in the country and proved that she belongs in that category as well.”

McLaughlin split third with Maddee Doerr from Cochise College in goat tying with a mark of 6.8 in the championship round.

McLaughlin’s mark in the first go was 7.3. She then followed with a 7.2 mark in the second go, and then placed second with a mark of 6.4 in the third go.

“Her first two runs were good, but she had a couple bobbles,” Poole said. “She knew that she had to be fast on her third run to stand a chance at the championship round.”

Sheyenne Anderson from Missouri Valley College won the event with a mark of 6.2. Following Anderson was Jill Donnelly with a score of 6.5.

McLaughlin also competed in breakaway roping.

“She roped her first two in the breakaway round but missed her third one which took her out of it,” Poole said.

“We know what we need to improve on and the new season is just around the corner. It’s time to get to work,” Poole said.

Final Goat Tying Results

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LIVINGSTON – Heather McLaughlin will represent the University of West Alabama Tiger Wranglers at the 2021 College National Finals Rodeo that begins Saturday and runs through June 19 at the Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming.

McLaughlin qualified for nationals as the reserve champion in All-Around for the Ozark Region. As the reserve champion, McLaughlin is able to compete in two events at nationals. She will be competing in breakaway roping and goat tying at the CNFR.

“Heather is mentally tough,” UWA head rodeo coach Daniel Poole said. “The distractions of the national finals will not bother her. She has practiced nearly every day since school got out and will go into the finals with the same game plan that got her there.”

All-Around Cowgirl is the cowgirl that accumulates the most points while competing in at least two different events throughout the regional regular season. The wranglers with the top 10 aggregate times after three rounds at the CNFR will compete in the championship round Saturday night, June 19.

There are 11 regions participating at nationals, and all the CNFR qualifiers will compete in three rounds. McLaughlin will compete in breakaway roping Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Goat tying will be Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.

“Being that she is competing in two events, she will stand a good chance at a national title and an all-around national title,” Poole said.

The CNFR will air on ESPN3 Tuesday, June 15 through Saturday, June 19. ESPN3 is available by using the ESPN App or by going to ESPN.com.

The rodeo performances will stream live and replay the following day. ESPNU will also be producing two programs to air later in the summer that will feature interviews, rodeo highlights and the crowning of national champions.

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Former Tiger Wrangler Nelson Wyatt has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as a team roping header and will compete with Levi Lord of South Dakota in the 10-day event in early December. It is the first WNFR qualification for both.

Wyatt, from Clanton, Ala., and Lord will compete Dec. 3-12 at the Wrangler NFR 2020 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The NFR will be the first non-baseball event to take place at the home of Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers.

“I’m pretty excited about it. I’m looking forward to it and getting to be out there and competing,” Wyatt The Team Roping Journal. “Everyone asks me since it is my first time if I’m bummed since it’s not in Vegas but, I think it’s cool if it never moves again we will be one of the few people that got to say they roped at the Finals in Arlington.”

After joining the PRCA in 2016, Wyatt was the all-around rookie in 2017 competing as a header and in tie-down roping. He began the 2020 NFR in 12^th place and has notched major wins this season at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede (3rd), $5,933 and at the Sitting Bull Stampede in Mobridge, South Dakota.

As a UWA Tiger Wrangler Wyatt qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in team roping. More importantly, he has a degree in physical education from UWA to fall back on.

Seats for the WNFR will be sold in groups of four with separation between groups. Contact-limiting measures, such as mobile tickets, have been implemented throughout the event. There will also be metal detector screenings and a no bag policy at entries on performance nights. Globe Life Field is encouraging all guests to check the CDC and the Texas Department of State Health Services websites for any guideline changes prior to the event.

The Wrangler NFR Livestream can be accessed at Cowboy Channel Plus and the event will also be aired on the Cowboy Channel and RFD-TV. Performances begin each evening at 6:45 p.m.

Fans can also follow official PRCA updates throughout the event at www.prorodeo.com.

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MURRAY, Ky. – Despite a first-place finish in goat tying for Aldyn Ashton, the West Alabama women’s rodeo team finished fourth at the Racer Roundup to end the fall portion of the 2020-21 Ozark Region schedule Saturday at the Bill Cherry Expo Center.

Ryder Ladner and Chase Graves were fourth in team roping as the UWA men ended up sixth in the two-day event hosted by Murray State University.

Missouri Valley won both the men’s and women’s team titles with 890 and 320 points, respectively.

Tennessee Martin put together a 510-point effort for second on the men’s side, followed by East Mississippi Community College (450), Three Rivers College (260), Pearl River Community College (195), UWA (190) and Southern Arkansas (170).

Arkansas-Monticello was second on the women’s side with 205 points, followed by EMCC (180), UWA (160), PRCC (150), SAU (125), Central Missouri (100) and Tennessee-Martin (60).

Ashton’s 7.2 was the best time in the second round on the way to the win and a 15.2 average in goat tying. Heather McLaughlin was seventh in the event.

Ladner and Graves’ 13.7 average was just four-10th of a second out of the top three, with Blane Maxwell of TRC and Will McCraw of UTM winning the event with an 11.8 for the average.

The Tiger Wranglers do not return to action until the East Mississippi Community College Rodeo Feb. 18-20 at the Lauderdale County Expo Center in Meridian, Mississippi.

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LIVINGSTON – With just the Racer Roundup left on the Ozark Region fall schedule, the West Alabama Tiger Wranglers find themselves within striking distance of the leaders as winter turns to spring and spring to making reservations at the College National Finals Rodeo in June.

The UWA men are currently in fourth place heading to Murray State for Nov. 12-14 festivities hosted by Murray State at the Bill Cherry Expo Center. The Tiger women are in fifth place in the region after four fall rodeos. Complete fall standings can be found at collegerodeo.com.

The fall has been a very successful one for Tiger goat tyer Heather McLaughlin. The sophomore from Bunnell, Florida currently leads the Ozark Region with 370 points after four rodeos. She is 60 points in front of Missouri Valley’s Sheyenne Anderson.

Heeler Jacob Watt, teaming with his brother Matt from East Mississippi Community College as header, are currently second in team roping. Ryder Ladnerand Chase Graves are seventh in the team roping standings.

Graves and Ladner head to Murray, Kentucky sharing sixth place in tie down roping. Trevor Colby, JT Ellison and Blayne Saine are 10^th, 12^th and 13^th, respectively, in the Ozark Region.

Aldyn Ashton is in sixth place in breakaway roping and Jaide Ellick is 15^th in goat tying.

Cooper Malone is currently 11^th in the region in steer wrestling, followed by Colby in 13^th and Ellison in 14^th.

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SIKESTON, Mo. – Heather McLaughlin won the goat tying competition and Aldyn Ashton was third in breakaway roping to lead the University of West Alabama women’s rodeo team to a first place finish in the Three Rivers College Championship College Rodeo that ended Saturday at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo Grounds.

Trevor Colby won the calf roping competition as the UWA men finished fifth with 180 points. Missouri Valley compiled 695 points to win the men’s side, followed by Tennessee-Martin with 665, East Mississippi Community College with 650, Three Rivers with 240 and UWA to round out the top five.

The West Alabama women put together 240 points for their first win of the fall season. Southern Arkansas was second with 220, followed by EMCC with 200, Missouri Valley with 145 and UARM with 100 to round out the top five.

McLaughlin finished with a 14.8 average to win goat tying. Ashton’s third place finish was the result of an 8.7 average in breakaway roping.

Sparked by a second go-round best of 10.1 Colby won calf roping with a 21.3 average. Calf ropers Blayne Saine and Ryder Ladner were fifth and sixth, respectively.

The Tiger Wranglers get back to the arena at the Southern Arkansas Rodeo Oct. 29-31.

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MERIDIAN, Miss. – The West Alabama men finished fourth and the women sixth at the Annual West Alabama Rodeo Showdown this weekend at the Lauderdale Agri-Center.

Missouri Valley racked up 890 points to win the men’s side, while Southern Arkansas scored 425 to finish atop the women’s standings.

West Alabama’s Chase Graves won calf roping, while Jacob Watt and his brother Matt from EMCC finished second in team roping. Cooper Malone was sixth in calf roping.

Defending Ozark Region All-Around Champion Heather McLaughlin led the UWA women’s effort by finishing second in goat tying with a 15.1 average. She was one-10^th of a second behind MVC’s Sheyenne Anderson in the average. Jaide Elliot was sixth in goat tying.

Tennessee-Martin (555) was second among eight teams scoring in the men’s standings, followed by East Mississippi Community College (440), UWA (325) and Southern Arkansas (260) to round out the top five. Three Rivers (160), Pearl River Community College (145) and Murray State (50) completed the field.

MVC (285) ended up second of nine scoring teams for the women, followed by CMU (195), EMCC (180) and Arkansas-Monticello (145) to round out the top five. UWA (140), Tennessee-Martin (105), Pearl River (85) and Northwest (Miss.) Community College (30) completed the women’s scoring.

The Tiger Wranglers return to action at the Three Rivers Rodeo Oct. 15-17 at the Art Saunders Arena in Sikeston, Mo.

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