FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, February 18, 2020
STEPHENVILLE, Texas— The Tarleton State College women’s rodeo team set a historic precedent by winning consecutive national championships in 1969, 1970 and 1971.
Now, the seven women who made up those teams — Karen Walls, Sally Preston, Angie Watts Averhoff, Vicki Higgins Emerson, Connie Wilkinson Wood, Sharon Harrison Youngblood and Martha Tompkins Jordan — are members of the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame induction class of 2020.
Besides earning three straight National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association team titles, four of the women earned individual event crowns. Watts was goat tying champion and Preston won the breakaway roping title in 1969; Wilkinson was the nation’s top collegiate barrel racer in 1970; and 1971 saw Wright finish first in the country in barrel racing.
Their achievements have been previously recognized by induction into Tarleton’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2012 and into the Stephenville Cowboy Capital Walk of Fame in 2000.
In all, 18 individuals, the Tarleton women’s team and a pair of rodeo animals make up the list of 2020 inductees for the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.
New members will be inducted in ceremonies held in conjunction with the annual Rodeo Reunion on Saturday, April 4, at the River Ranch Event Center in Fort Worth.
Tarleton’s rodeo program has earned seven national team championships and 28 individual titles.
Tarleton, founding member of The Texas A&M University System, provides a student-focused, value-driven education marked by academic innovation and a dedication to transform today’s scholars into tomorrow’s leaders. It offers degree programs to more than 13,000 students at Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian, RELLIS Academic Alliance in Bryan, and online, emphasizing real-world learning experiences that address societal needs while maintaining its core values of tradition, integrity, civility, excellence, leadership and service.
Contact: Phil Riddle
817-484-4415
priddle@tarleton.edu
