Not every step of her rodeo career has been what she wanted, but Moffat County senior Jolene Rhyne recently took a big leap forward.

Rhyne signed her letter of intent to compete for Missouri Valley College as part of a ceremony Thursday, March 27 at MCHS.

With parents Chris and Greg on hand — including a big tray of brownies to celebrate the occasion — Jolene made the commitment in front of a lunchtime student crowd.

Jolene will compete in goat tying and breakaway roping for MVC, which is located in Marshall, Missouri in the north-central part of the state.

The town is roughly the size of Craig, while the school is on the smaller side, with fewer than 2,000 students.

“It’s very athletic-focused, about 70 percent of the students are there for sports,” she said. “The women’s coach there, Faith Hoffman, has been coaching me since I was little, and I can’t wait to work with her there.”

Jolene noted that she plans to study marketing, a field she will put to good use in the business side of rodeo.

Chris Rhyne noted that her daughter has been in rodeo all her life and has long been considering where the sport would take her with older brother Pepper doing his cowboy work at Chadron State College in Nebraska.

“It’s very teamwork-oriented, less of everybody going and doing everything on their own — that was the kind of thing she was looking for,” Chris said of MVC. “I’m happy for her to be able to do it and also still want to do it and care about something for this long.”

After the fall season, Jolene is ranked second in the state in goat tying and plans to stay high in the standings as the season picks up again in mid-April.

Craig will host a rodeo in early May at Moffat County Fairgrounds as well as the state finals Memorial Day weekend.

Jolene has gone to the national level of competition in both middle school and high school, though an ACL injury as a sophomore kept her from doing much for a time.

She rebounded well as a junior to make a statement to the rest of the Colorado State High School Rodeo Association, of which she also serves as the student board president.

“With my knee injury, I’ve never really held expectations with that; just happy to tie and be able to compete,” Jolene said.

While speaking at the ceremony, MCHS rodeo coach Joyce Barnes said the Rhyne family has been “a great asset” to the sport in Moffat County.

“It’s my honor to watch Jolene grow into the student and athlete she is today, and I can’t wait to see what her future brings in her journey,” Barnes said.