Skylights ready to compete at College National Finals Rodeo

While most college sports seasons have come to an end, the college rodeo season will finally come to an end with the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, this month. The Montana State University-Northern women’s rodeo team will be one of many teams competing at the CNFR to cap off the season.

Northern’s Brittney Cox will compete at the CNFR after finishing the season atop the Big Sky standings in barrel racing. Cox competed in the CNFR last year as a freshman, so MSU-N head coach Doug Kallenberger expects her to perform well this go around.

“With her coming back for her second year at the College Nationals Finals Rodeo, it should be nothing but good things,” Kallenberger said. “Her horse is in good shape, she’s doing good so I expect her to have no jitters, know what to expect and just do her thing so she should be great.”

Georgia Orahood will compete in breakaway roping after finishing eighth in the Big Sky standings in the regular season. She qualified for the CNFR as a member of the MSU-N women’s team and this will be her first trip to the CNFR. Orahood had a strong start to the season but had her troubles later in the year. In preparation for the CNFR, Orahood has worked on performing more consistently in order to be at her best when it matters most.

“When Georgia lets her rope fly, it can be really fast,” Kallenberger said. “In the world of breakaway roping, it comes down to 10 seconds so we’ve just been working on that so I think she’ll be fine.”

Mikenna Schaur will compete in two separate events for the Skylights. In the regular season, she finished sixth in goat tying and seventh in breakaway roping in the regional standings. This will be Schauer’s second straight trip to the CNFR, so Kallenberger expects her to perform well and lead the other cowgirls.

“She knows how to handle pressure situations,” Kallenberger said. “She knows what to expect and I think we’ll see good things out of all three of these girls. They just know to clear their head, go back to their practice plan and just make their rounds.”

This will be the second straight season that the MSU-N women’s team will compete at the CNFR. As the Skylights compete on the national stage once again, Kallenberger believes it is a result of all the hard work of these riders.

“I think it just shows the dedication by the kids,” Kallenberger said. “The kids have shown extreme dedication. They put in a lot of long, hard hours. It’s been great to see their leadership and how much dedication they want to pour into it to go back for a second time.”

At the CNFR, the Skylights will compete against many other schools from across the country. In Casper, Wyoming, junior colleges, NAIA schools and Division-I programs will all compete against one another. While there will be many programs to compete against, Kallenberger believes the Skylights are more than capable of doing well and showing they belong.

“I really feel we can compete and be there with the best ones in the nation,” Kallenberger said. “We’ll just let the chips fall where they fall, but I feel we got a team that can compete nationally and we’re excited to have these girls competing.”

The MSU-N women’s rodeo team will begin the CNFR on June 9 in Casper, Wyoming. The CNFR will go on for about a week until wrapping up on June 17.