Competing across the rodeo circuit, Mancos senior Rhiley Morgan-Montoya has roped in plenty of honors.
Now, she can add another to the list.
As her high school athletics career wraps up this spring, Morgan-Montoya accepted a full scholarship to attend Cisco College this fall and join the up-and-coming Wrangler rodeo program.
“I’ve felt really welcomed by Cisco College and Coach (Don) Eddleman,” said Morgan-Montoya of her decision to saddle up with the Wranglers program. “They’re committed to making sure that we are successful both academically and athletically – and in our careers beyond college.”
Cisco College is a community college in a town of about 4,000 between Abilene and Fort Worth, putting Morgan-Montoya in the heart of rodeo country. The Wranglers compete in the Southwest Region, squaring off against Texas and New Mexico community colleges, as well as Division I and II athletic programs like Texas Tech University and West Texas A&M.
Morgan-Montoya looks to pursue a career in athletic training, which has been a prime interest of hers ever since she began high school.
Since Morgan-Montoya picked up the sport in elementary school, she has embraced the sport’s various disciplines, and has collected countless buckles from her travels throughout the region, making her biggest mark in the goat tying and breakaway roping competitions.
Six state titles – four in goat tying and two in breakaway roping – placed Morgan-Montoya on a who’s-who list of rodeo athletes in Colorado. They also earned her coveted opportunities to compete against the premier athletes in the country at the National High School Finals Rodeo. “I’ve met so many great people competing against some of the best rodeo athletes in the nation,” reflected Morgan-Montoya, “and I’ve made so many great connections and new friends from those competitions.”
She credits much of her success to her support system, which have made countless sacrifices to allow her to enjoy her success in the arena. “My parents have done so much for me,” credited Morgan-Montoya, “along with my longtime coach, Ross, who taught me so many of the skills that have made me successful. Also, my sister (Quincy) has pushed me to always better myself, and we’ve made each other into better competitors.”
Her sponsors throughout the course of career also played a pivotal role in helping her finance some of her expenses along the way.
Meanwhile, she’s also had plenty of equine athlete teammates during her years in the saddle. Morgan-Montoya remembers her bond with Smoke, a male who helped her dominate the circuit in her middle school years. “He was one of my first-ever horses, and even though he was an older horse, we had a lot of success together, including winning my first-ever buckle.”
Morgan-Montoya also emerged as one of the top guards on the basketball court over the past years, helping guide the Mancos girls basketball program to back-to-back winning seasons in her junior and senior campaigns. Her prowess on the court even earned her a first team All-San Juan Basin League honor and an all-state honorable mention.
Morgan-Montoya attributes some of her rodeo improvement to the lessons she learned on the hardwood. “Playing a team sport was a learning experience for me, that in order to be good, I needed to rely on other people,” said Morgan-Montoya of the translation of basketball into rodeo. “It’s also helped me to be a stronger leader, and a better all-around athlete, especially in terms of my quickness.”
Up ahead for Morgan-Montoya, a series of four spring competitions beginning with a rodeo in Loveland in late April, culminating in the state championship. Her goat-tying prowess has her atop the standings heading in to the spring season, and one step closer to another bid into the national championships. The national finals will take place in Gillette, Wyoming, over the week of July 17-23, as she looks to cap off a her high school career before setting her sights on college.
