All Inductees
Tarleton State Womens Team

1969, 1970 & 1971 Tarleton State College NIRA National Champion Womens Teams

The 1969, 1970 and 1971 Tarleton State College women’s teams accomplished a feat never equaled and, given the level of competition today, that will probably never be duplicated.  They were the NIRA National Champions three consecutive years – 1969, 1970 and 1971.  These teams and individuals also won numerous Southwest Region event and team championships.

The seven ladies listed below  were on one or two teams – Karen Walls (1969), Sally Preston (1969 and 1970), Angie Watts Averhoff (1969 and 1970), Vicki Higgins Emerson (1970 and 1971), Connie Wilkinson Wood (1970), Sharon Harrison Youngblood (1971) and Martha Tompkins Jordan (1971).  National event champions were Watts-Averhoff (goat tying), Preston (breakaway), Wilkinson- Wood (barrels) and Tompkins-Jordan (barrels).  All are college graduates and native Texans and still reside in Texas.

They were the first inductees in the Tarleton State University Rodeo Hall of Fame (2012).  They were also inducted in the Stephenville Walk of Fame (2000).  All are active in their communities and in the Tarleton Rodeo Alumni.  In honor of their deceased former coach, Carl Chumney, they awarded a scholarship to the Tarleton Rodeo Team.

Left to right in photo:  Tompkins-Jordan, Watts-Averhoff, Preston, Higgins-Emerson, Wilkinson-Wood, Harrison-Youngblood, and Walls