WT Ranch Horse Team Wins Second Consecutive National Title, Sweeps Individual Categories
The West Texas A&M University Ranch Horse Team took home its second consecutive national championship at the National Intercollegiate Ranch & Stock Horse Association competition. Team members are, front from left, Sydnee Wilson, Tess Lewis, Haylee Triplitt, Lela Chisholm, Isabella Ayers, Ashley Wortham, Elizabeth Iandoli, Bayleigh Leathers and Cutter McLaughlin, and, back from left, Head Coach Lance Baker, Coach Sidney Dunkel, Chloe Rourke, Kennedy Hill, Grace Hyde, Payton Porterfield, Marin McCarthy, Avery Turner, Bella Bridges, Parker Ralston, Kailey Roberts and Kaylea Marionneaux. (Photo by Cow Creek Photography)
CANYON, Texas — The West Texas A&M University Ranch Horse Team won its second consecutive championship at the National Intercollegiate Ranch & Stock Horse Association competition.
Three WT students were named national champion riders in individual categories, among other top honors.
The national contest was held April 13 to 15 at the Amarillo National Center on the Tri-State Fairgrounds. WT also won the championship in 2025, following three reserve championships since the show launched in 2021.
As the show’s winner, the WT team earned the use of an award trailer from Hughes Trailers in Canyon for one year.
“There are few things more gratifying than a group of student athletes with total buy-in, who share the vision and the dream, who trust the process, who sacrifice and dedicate themselves to a worthwhile goal for themselves and their team,” said coach Dr. Lance Baker, professor of animal science in the Department of Agricultural Sciences in the Paul Engler College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences. “This team has done what no other team has done before at Nationals—winning the Division 1 team title and sweeping all the individual categories along with the outstanding rider and freshman awards.”
WT’s riders competed in two go-rounds in four classes—ranch reining, stock horse pleasure, ranch trail and cow work—in three divisions: novice, limited nonprofessional and nonprofessional.
Nineteen WT students competed in Division I, taking down teams from Texas Tech University, Texas A&M University, North Central Texas College and New Mexico State University.
Parker Ralston, a sophomore agribusiness major from Collbran, Colorado, won the nonprofessional division and was presented the Kris Wilson Top Hand Award, which is given to the top rider of the entire show.
Marin McCarthy, a freshman equine industry and business major from Aledo, won the limited nonprofessional division.
Avery Turner, a freshman equine industry and business major from Gilmer, won the novice division. Turner also won the Outstanding Freshman Award, sponsored by the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
Also placing in the nonprofessional division: Cutter McLaughlin, a senior agribusiness major from Amarillo, in third place; Ashley Wortham, a junior agricultural business and economics major from Wimberley, in fifth place; and Bayleigh Leathers, a freshman agricultural media and communication major from Gruver, in ninth place. Also competing was Chloe Rourke, a senior agricultural media and communication major from Northfield, Massachusetts.
Also placing in the limited nonprofessional division: Kailey Robers, a freshman equine industry and business major from Austin, in fourth place; Lela Chisholm, a sophomore agricultural business and economics major from Graham, in fifth place; and Haylee Triplett, a senior agricultural business and economics major from Gouldbusk, in sixth place. Also competing were Bella Bridges, a sophomore agricultural media and communication major from Brownsboro; Grace Hyde, a junior agricultural business and economics major from Sherman; Kennedy Hill, a freshman equine industry and business major from Aledo; Payton Porterfield, a sophomore agricultural business and economics major from Brighton, Colorado; and Kaylea Marionneaux, a freshman agricultural business and economics major from Zachary, Louisiana.
Also placing in the novice division: Bella Ayers, a senior agricultural media and communication major from Canyon, in third place; Elizabeth Iandoli, a freshman equine industry and business major from Carmel, California, in sixth place; and Tess Lewis, a senior animal science major from Colfax, Washington, in eighth place. Also competing was Sydnee Wilson, a freshman agricultural media and communication major from Trout Creek, Montana.
The team also is coached by Sidney Dunkel, instructor of animal science.
Such team competition is one way in which WT creates in its students a commitment to being self-reliant, courageous, resourceful and part of something larger than one’s self, as laid out in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.
That plan is fueled by the One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which raised more than $200 million dollars, the largest such campaign in Texas Panhandle history.
About West Texas A&M University
West Texas A&M University is a Regional Research University in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers multiple options for students to graduate and succeed: 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.