Hill College Rodeo Coach Signs Top Shelf Women’s Team Talent

  Savanah Allen
  Tuesday, May 26, 2020 12:37 PM
  Athletics

Hillsboro, TX

HILLSBORO, TEXAS—Rodeo Coach Paul Brown has put together and signed a notable group of incoming freshmen for his 2020-2021 rodeo season. While Hill College Rodeo has historically been strong, the 2020-2021 Women’s Team comes equipped with three of the toughest cowgirls in the country. They should be a force in the region as these cowgirls have roped through the ranks at the toughest rodeos in the country, traded championships and passed them around with each other.

Brighton Bauman of Okeechobee, Florida signs on to rodeo for the Rebels with impressive accolades. In 2019, she broke the 1.8-second arena record at the International Finals Youth Rodeo (IFYR) in Shawnee, Okla. with a time of 1.7-seconds. Prior to setting that arena record last year, Bauman qualified for the IFYR in 2017 and 2018. This year at The Patriot, she earned the Breakaway Champion title. The Patriot is billed as America’s richest combined equine event. Bauman placed first out of 183 competitors in the open breakaway roping category with an average time of 8.84-seconds. She was the National High School Finals Rodeo (NHSFR) Breakaway Champion in 2017. Bauman also won the Roy Cooper Junior Calf Roping title at the 33rd annual Roy Cooper World Championship held in Decatur, Texas, in 2017. Bauman comes from a long line of cowboys, cowgirls and competitors in Florida. She also competes in team roping.

Jordi Edens comes to Hill College from Gatesville, Texas and competes in barrel racing, breakaway roping and goat tying. She was the 2019 National High School Rodeo Association Champion Breakaway Roper and placed second in 2017, behind Bauman. She has also won the Cowboys Professional Rodeo Association All-Around Champion for the past four years. Edens is branded with winning the Breakaway Roping at the inaugural Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo in Salt Lake City, Utah. Edens won $53,200 with a time of 2.58-seconds at the World Champions Rodeo Alliance sanctioned event. She is also a two-time Texas High School Finals average winner.

Gracie Gambino is from Lindale, Texas and is a true all-around cowgirl. She competes in breakaway roping, goat tying, barrel racing, and team roping. Gambino is the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association (WPRA) Tie-Down World Champion this past year. She also finished the WPRA season ranked fifth as the All-Around Cowgirl in the World after some top cowgirls. Gambino has competed at the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has made the short-round at the National Little Britches Rodeo Association Finals and she has placed at the Texas High School Finals go-rounds, as well as placed in the top five in the all-around at the IFYR in Shawnee, Okla.

Morgan Elder is a barrel racer from Athens, TX. She qualified for the state finals this year and competes in the Lone Star High School Rodeo Association. Kelly Kendrick is a barrel racer from Omaha, TX and currently competes in the Arkansas High School Rodeo Association.

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