Chadron State College Athletics

At the urging of Kelvin Sharp, then a team roper at CSC and now the president of South Plains College at Levelland, Texas, Jean enrolled at Chadron State after graduating from Thedford High School in 1977. As a freshman, she won the breakaway roping, was second in team roping and was the all-around cowgirl in the Great Plains Region, which spanned eight states.  She also won the national breakaway roping championship that year, when her times at the finals rodeo were 3.9, 4.2 and 3.1 seconds.
Perhaps just as important, Jean recruited Kathy Kennedy and Martee Meter to Chadron State, and the trio formed an outstanding team the next two years. They won the women’s team trophy at 11 of the 13 rodeos in the Great Plains Region in 1978-79 and at four of 10 rodeos in the Central Rocky Mountain Region the following year.  They were regional team champions both years and placed fourth in the final national standings in ’78-’79.
As a sophomore, Jean was second to Kennedy in breakaway roping in the region. She also was the Great Plains Region’s all-around cowgirl and was the region’s runner-up in goat tying that year.
Jean also was the Central Rocky Mountain Region and national breakaway champion in 1980-81 after transferring to the University of Wyoming to earn a range management degree. CSC did not have the degree then.  Jean and her husband Gary Poythress now live near Stephenville, Texas, where they raise cattle that are used for team roping and steer wrestling.