Texas Aggie Rodeo Team members claim College National Finals Rodeo titles
Madalyn Richards earns all-around title, women’s team places third in nation
Texas Aggie Rodeo Team members recently claimed national titles at the College National Finals Rodeo, CNFR, in Casper, Wyoming. The Aggie women’s team finished third in the nation.
Madalyn Richards ’25, senior agricultural communications and journalism major from Hereford, was named the 2024 Breakaway Roping Champion and earned the 2024 Women’s All-Around title. Tylie McDonald ’27, freshman agricultural communications and journalism major from College Station, was named the 2024 Rookie Goat Tying Champion, and Gavin French ’25, senior animal science major from Fredericksburg, placed fifth in the nation in bareback riding.
The rodeo team is part of the competitive teams program in the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Animal Science.
Pride and memories
Al Wagner, Ph.D., retiring rodeo coach and food technologist in the Department of Horticultural Sciences, expressed his immense pride in the team’s performance and for the memories made over nearly three decades of coaching the rodeo team.
“It was a great week in Casper, and I couldn’t be more proud of the team’s hard work and resilience,” Wagner said. “It’s been a privilege to represent Texas A&M at this level. I cherish the memories of each season during my tenure as rodeo coach.”
The rodeo team’s incoming coach, Roger Hanagriff, Ph.D., who will also serve as a lecturer in the Department of Animal Science, said he was proud of the team’s tenacity and focus to get through the long week of competition to secure the national titles after the final go-round on June 15.
“With competition spread over six days, it’s easy to lose focus and energy,” Hanagriff said. “But none of our students lost any of that. They represented us well all week and brought back national ranking titles that mean a lot to our team and university.”
Claiming top titles in Casper
The CNFR is the pinnacle rodeo of the collegiate season, sanctioned by the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, NIRA. An estimated 400 competitors from more than 100 universities across 11 regions in the U.S. competed in Casper after qualifying throughout the academic year in NIRA-sanctioned rodeos.
Richards soared to the top to earn the all-around title. She tallied a total of 362 points across the goat tying and breakaway roping events, bringing her total to double that of the individual who placed second all-around.
Richards’ best round in goat tying was the third go, where she placed first with a time of 6.0 seconds, the fastest goat tying time of the entire week.
In the breakaway event’s first round, Richards split third with a time of 2.3 seconds. She and teammate Madison Outhier ’25, junior business marketing major from Utopia, split second place in the second round at 2.0 seconds. Outhier continued in the breakaway performance with a solid run in the third round finishing fourth with a time of 2.3 seconds. Richards was able to advance to the final round where she placed third at 2.5 seconds, securing the title as champion breakaway roper.
Richards’ horse, DuallysBeenCattin, was named the 2024 American Quarter Horse Association Breakaway Roping Horse of the Year.
The youngest of the Aggie competitors, McDonald, had a strong third round in the goat tying event, splitting sixth place with a time of 6.6 seconds. Her performance over the week earned her the rookie championship title.
Emma Smith ’24, a recent agribusiness graduate from Pleasanton, competed in barrel racing, an extremely competitive event, according to Hanagriff. Her best score came in the first round, with a fourth-place finish of 14.04 seconds.
The four performances by Richards, Outhier, McDonald and Smith helped the women’s team finish third in the nation with a total of 567 points. This year’s CNFR marked the third consecutive year, and 12 years total, that the Aggies qualified a full women’s team to take to Casper.
“It is hard to win our region and qualify four women for finals, but we got that done,” Hanagriff said. “When you get to finals, it is even harder for all four women to contribute to the team title because the competition is extremely tough. But with their performances, we were able to finish strong.”
French’s best performance in the bareback riding event was in the second round where he placed fourth with a score of 79 points. After completing four tough rounds against 35 other bareback riders who qualified for finals, French earned the fifth spot in the nation.
Joining a tradition of excellence
These titles will come home to Aggieland and be part of the storied tradition and legacy of the Department of Animal Science’s competitive teams program, which dates back to the early 1900s.
“We are extremely proud of the Texas Aggie Rodeo Team members for their success in Casper,” said Clay Mathis, Ph.D., professor and head of the Department of Animal Science. “The team members represented our department and university with the respect and distinction that defines our competitive team program, and we are grateful for the team to be part of our department.”
