Shelli Benton was named Northwest's head rodeo coach in January 2015 and joined the Ranger family after 11 years with Mississippi State University Extension Service in Tate County.
Despite a shortened 2019-20 season cut short due to COVID-19, Benton had two of her athletes in position to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo for the first time during her tenure. Jacob Hodges led the NIRA's Ozark Region in bull riding and Cade Cowan was in third place for team roping.
Additionally, Caroline Crawford was also on the bubble to potentially qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo with her consistent performances in barrel racing.
Benton served the MSU Extension Service in many roles, starting out as a 4-H Youth Development Agent. In the past four years, she served as the Extension County Coordinator with 4-H responsibilities.
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Benton received her bachelor's in animal and dairy sciences with a minor in agriculture business management in 2001 from Mississippi State. She also completed her master's from MSU in nutrition with her thesis on Animal and Forage Performance with Steers Intensively Rotational Grazing Summer Perennials.
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At MSU, Benton was actively involved with the MSU Rodeo Team as their secretary/treasurer and student sponsor. Her primary role with the team was to make sure all team members arrived safely to rodeos, paid their dues and fees, and behaved in a manner that represented MSU accordingly.
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Benton is originally from Purvis and has lived in Senatobia for the past 14 years. She has three children, Garrett (11), Faith (9) and Mary Elizabeth (6).
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Benton also teaches Agriculture Business Management and Animal Husbandry classes at Northwest.Â
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