Four Tarleton seniors punch their last ticket to the College National Finals Rodeo

The stage is set for the 2025 College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR), taking place June 15–21 in Casper, Wyoming, and 11 Tarleton Rodeo athletes have earned a spot to compete for the gold.

At 2024’s CNFR, Tarleton brought back a men’s championship, a women’s reserve championship and one individual championship in the saddle bronc riding. This year, the team is aiming to not only defend last year’s titles, but add some new ones to their impressive resume. 

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association is broken up into 11 regions across the United States. Tarleton rodeos within the Southwest Region, and in order to qualify for the CNFR, competitors within their respective regions must finish the season top three in their event. Once they reach the Finals stage, all regions’ competitors compete head to head. 

While competitors qualify for and compete at the Finals on an individual basis, they still can rack in team men and women’s championships based on cumulative points generated between the athletes – but first, they have to get to the CNFR.

After an entire school year of battling it out, six out of the 11 packing their bags for the championship rodeo are Waitley Sharon, winning first in saddle bronc riding for the region; Bailey Small, winning second in the saddle bronc riding; Coleman Shalbetter, winning third in the saddle bronc riding; Montgomery Parsons, winning fourth in the saddle bronc riding; Brayden Roe, winning second in the tiedown roping; Jacelyn Frost, winning first in the breakaway roping and Kaylie Garza, winning third in the breakaway roping.

The remaining four that are CNFR bound are seniors Landris White, Jordan Driver, Hadley Tidwell and Tori Brower. For the region, White won the steer wrestling, Driver won the barrel racing and the All-Around, Tidwell won third in the barrel racing and Brower won second in the goat tying. 

Although none of these senior standouts are first time CNFR qualifiers, with the sense of finality lingering in the air, this year can’t help but feel different. 

“In the years past of competing at the CNFR, I always would go in with some nerves and jitters, and it wasn’t because I wasn’t prepared for the stage – it was knowing I had a team and a university counting on me,” Driver said. “This fourth CNFR already feels different. I haven’t had any nerves or doubts, but I do know not only myself but my teammates as well are going up there with something to prove. The whole year has been competitive, and the hard part is over now. It is just time to let it all hang out and leave with several national championships.”

Brower is now a three-time CNFR qualifier, and while she hopes to go out with a bang in her final shot, she’s relying on simple steps to get there.

“My goal is to stay present as the week goes on and put smooth runs together,” Brower said. “Just trusting in the Lord and enjoying the time with my friends and family and showing up for my teammates.” 

For White, an integral member of the 2024 CNFR champion men’s team and now two-time CNFR qualifier, this year’s trip to Casper is for his family. 

“My family has been my biggest source of motivation,” White said. “They’ve always been there and believed in me. Without their constant support, who knows where I’d be.”

The same as Driver, Tidwell is also a four-time CNFR qualifier in barrel racing whose success is measured not just by the tangible wins, but also the level of intentionality brought to each run. 

“At the CNFR, success to me looks like giving 110% of my effort in each run I make,” Tidwell said. “No matter what happens, I want to walk out of the arena knowing I did everything I could. I want to trust God’s plan while I’m there and be in the moment and support my friends the best I can.”

For all CNFR hopefuls, the final three rodeos of the season are where the question of making it to Casper starts to come into focus. With 10 rodeos total—five in the fall and five in the spring—to climb their way to the top of the ranks, it’s important the athletes keep that momentum going, even as the season starts to round off.

The last three rodeos of the year were the Western Texas College Rodeo in Snyder, Texas, April 3-5, the Howard College Rodeo in Big Spring, Texas, April 10-12 and the Tarleton Stampede Rodeo in Stephenville, Texas, April 24-26. 

At the Western Texas College Rodeo, Driver was the solitary Tarleton athlete to secure a weekend win and lead the women’s team to a championship, winning the barrel racing and surging even further ahead in the Southwest Region standings.

The following week at the Howard College Rodeo, a few more soon-to-be 2025 CNFR qualifiers made their way to the winner’s circle.

White and Brower, along with three-time CNFR qualifier Bailey Small, picked up an event win in their individual domains – White in the steer wrestling, Small in the saddle bronc riding and Brower in the goat tying.

Capping off the season a week later on home turf, Brower and Driver each snagged event wins at the Tarleton Stampede, solidifying their spots at the CNFR. Roedy Farrell also officially punched his ticket, winning both the bareback riding at the home rodeo and the regional title. While Tarleton’s Cauy Masters didn’t qualify for the CNFR, he closed out the season on a high note with a win in the saddle bronc riding. 

When the dust settled on the season’s final rodeo, Tarleton’s men’s and women’s teams emerged as regional champions. Driver, the leading force behind the women’s title, believes Tarleton Rodeo’s many wins are a direct reflection of the program and the people behind it.

“I couldn’t have picked a better place for me to rodeo,” Driver said. “I truly believe Tarleton is the best rodeo program in the nation, hands down. They expect your best and give you unlimited opportunities to be successful. I never knew really what it meant to have a whole school backing you until coming here. The school, facilities, our coaches (Brittney and Mark) and our president are our biggest supporters. Never do you feel like you are out of place here, and you truly will leave TSU as a winner and better person, in and out of the arena.”

As a fellow four-time CNFR qualifier, Tidwell shares a similar perspective, along with one of her own – considering that after graduation, she’ll be heading to nursing school in Weatherford, with limited time available to pursue rodeo on a more professional trail.

“My experience here at Tarleton has been everything I could have hoped for,” Tidwell said. “I’ve made some lifelong friends and have had so many opportunities I never would have thought I’d have. If you would have told me four years ago that I would make the college finals every year, I would have laughed. Now, this being my last one ever just seems unreal. I’m really going to try to be where my feet are and soak up each moment no matter how my performance is.”

While this is also Brower’s last chance to soak in each CNFR moment as a competitor, she’ll return in the fall to finish her master’s degree and serve as the graduate assistant for the rodeo team, primarily helping the goat tiers reach their own College Finals. Brower credits the support she’s received throughout her college career as the reason she wants to give back.

“The support shown from Tarleton my three years here is next to none,” Brower said. “From the administration, the president and especially our coaches, they have been instrumental in my success and have taken me to the next level in many aspects of my life. Without Tarleton, I wouldn’t have pursued a relationship with God, gained the friendships I have or become the person I am today. I’m excited to spend my last CNFR with mostly everyone that’s been such an important part of my journey.”

Although no longer a rookie in the college rodeo arena, White values the formative years he spent working toward the position he's in now – the position to win a national championship title.

“The past five years at Tarleton have been a huge blessing, and I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to go to school here,” White said. “Putting on that purple one last time at the College Finals is the best way to end it.”

White, as well as Driver, are two seniors who have already made their mark on not just the college rodeo scene, but also the professional one. And while college rodeo will conclude after this summer, with professional rodeo becoming their main focus, that doesn’t diminish the impact collegiate rodeo has had on their lives.

“College rodeo has been a big part of my life and will always hold a special place in my heart,” Driver said. “When I decided to college rodeo, I was going to make it my main priority and give it my all throughout my four years. Coming to Tarleton was the absolute best choice I could have made for my college career. Knowing how much I have grown as a competitor and person really shows me how much impact college rodeo has made on me. This chapter of my life is going to be something I cherish, and I know I haven’t taken it for granted.” 

That feeling of gratitude for Tarleton Rodeo is something that all CNFR qualifiers will carry with them, but it may be most evident in White, Driver, Tidwell and Brower. And for these seniors, gratitude is best expressed through national championships – the kind that bleed purple.