Tarleton State roper Alejandra Franco dies at 20 after Alpine accident

Alejandra Franco, a 20-year-old member of the Tarleton State University rodeo team, died after being injured Thursday night while competing at the S.A.L.E. Arena in Alpine, Texas, Sul Ross State University said Friday. Franco was from Mexico and competed in breakaway roping, according to CBS News.

Tarleton State head rodeo coach Mark Eakin told WFAA that Franco was in the roping box with her horse when the accident happened. Neither Eakin nor the universities described what followed, and officials have not released details about what took place during the performance or about the injuries Franco sustained, CBS News reported. Eakin's account is the only public description of where Franco was when she was hurt.

The event was the 81st annual Sul Ross State University college rodeo, a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association competition held on the Sul Ross campus in Alpine, in far West Texas. Tarleton State, based in Stephenville, was among the schools competing. Franco was injured on Sept. 24, and both universities identified her as the athlete who died.

What the universities have said

Sul Ross State's rodeo program announced the death on Facebook Friday, saying it was deeply saddened that a Tarleton State University athlete had died from injuries sustained during the performance at the S.A.L.E. Arena on Thursday night. The university said its hearts were with Franco's family, team and community, and that the weekend's events would continue as scheduled in her honor, with counselors present to support athletes. The announcement did not say how she was injured.

The Tarleton State rodeo team confirmed Franco's death in an Instagram post Friday, saying she had lost her life the previous day and had made a lasting impression on those who knew her. The team asked people to keep her family, friends and teammates in their thoughts and prayers.

The S.A.L.E. Arena is a lighted, covered venue on the Sul Ross State campus. It was completely rebuilt in 2020, a project that modernized its stock handling pens and team horse stalls, according to the university. Thursday night's performance was part of a schedule that ran into the weekend, and the remaining events went ahead.

The birthplace of collegiate rodeo

Sul Ross holds a specific place in the sport's history. The Alpine school is recognized as the birthplace of collegiate rodeo and is where the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association was founded in 1949. The Sul Ross rodeo is part of the association's Lone Star Region, as is Tarleton State.

Franco competed in breakaway roping. The roping box is the fenced-off section of a rodeo or practice arena where a horse and rider wait before chasing a calf or steer, and it is where Eakin said the accident took place. What happened inside it has not been described in any statement from Sul Ross State, Tarleton State or the intercollegiate association. The Sul Ross statement referred only to injuries sustained during Thursday night's performance.

• Franco was injured during a Thursday night performance at the S.A.L.E. Arena.
• Coach Mark Eakin said she was in the roping box with her horse.
• Officials have not released details of the accident or her injuries.
• Sul Ross State kept the weekend's events on schedule, with counselors present.

Tarleton State sits roughly 70 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Its rodeo program has won 37 national championship titles over its history, and Franco was competing for the school in Alpine when she was hurt.

Coach calls her an outstanding competitor

Eakin, in a statement released by Tarleton State, said the team was heartbroken by Franco's death and called her a tremendous person and an outstanding competitor who would be missed. The coach had spoken to WFAA earlier about the roping box, and the university statement did not add any detail about the accident itself.

The Tarleton State team will compete at the highest level in her honor, Eakin said, and he said she would be in the team's hearts forever.

Ale was more than just a rodeo student-athlete; she was a cherished member of the university and a leader on campus. She had an incredible personality and knew how to make everyone around her feel welcomed and loved. Ale's legacy at Tarleton State will live on through her memory and all the lives she's impacted.

Tarleton State President James Hurley said in a social media post Friday that the university was heartbroken by the news. He called Franco a true Texan and a cherished member of the school's Tarleton Transition Mentor program, and said she represented Tarleton State on the rodeo stage.

A mentor to new students in Stephenville

The transition mentor role placed Franco among the students who welcome new arrivals to the Stephenville campus, work that made her a familiar face well beyond the rodeo team. Mentors in the program are known by playful family nicknames that describe the close bond between them and the incoming students they guide. Tarleton Rodeo had marked her birthday with a post on its social media accounts on August 25, a month before her death.

By Saturday afternoon the rodeo team's Instagram post had drawn more than 10,000 likes and nearly 300 comments, according to NTD, and Hurley's post had received nearly 10,000 likes and dozens of comments. Commenters described Franco as a kindhearted person and a genuine friend, and said the rodeo community was heartbroken.

Rodeo weekend continues under purple ribbons

The 81st annual Sul Ross State rodeo went ahead as scheduled after Franco's death, with the host university saying the weekend's events would continue in her honor and that counselors would be present to support athletes. The SRSU Rodeo Exes and Alumni provided purple ribbons at the gate at the S.A.L.E. Arena on Friday and Saturday night, and Sul Ross asked those attending to wear a ribbon through the weekend or to wear purple, Tarleton State's color, in a show of support.

Tarleton State directed students grieving Franco's death to its Student Counseling Services at 254-968-9044, a line that is monitored 24 hours a day and free to use, according to CBS News. Professional grief counselors were also made available at the venue in Alpine to support student-athletes still scheduled to compete.

Condolences across the college rodeo community

The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association said its thoughts and prayers were with Franco's family, friends, teammates, Tarleton State University and the entire Lone Star Region, and said the rodeo community was mourning alongside all who knew and loved her. The Sul Ross State rodeo team said its thoughts were with her family, team and community as the Alpine weekend went on.

Franco's father, Alejandro Franco, published a letter on Facebook remembering his daughter as his light. He wrote that the whole world loved her and rightly so, that he was proud to be her dad, that she was the best thing that ever happened to him and that every one of her laughs had stayed etched in his chest.

You were my everything, my world, the joy of every day. You were the happiest person, the most positive, the kindest.

He wrote that he did not know how to go on without her, and promised to honor her life by living the way she lived, with positivity, treating people well and helping others. He closed by telling her to wait for him with her smile.

Before she rode for Tarleton State, Franco was a member of Escaramuza Charra El Gran Chaparral, a women's equestrian team in her native Mexico, a connection to her culture and her heritage as much as to the sport. Her roots in the equestrian world reached back to Mexico, where she rode before coming to Texas. The team shared its grief in an Instagram post.

She touched so many lives through her friendly smile, leadership, kindness and the love she shared with those around her. Her presence will be deeply missed, but the impact she made on her Texan family will never be forgotten.

A rodeo announcer in Alpine captured the mood of the arena, saying "if one of us hurts, we all hurt," according to WFAA. No further information about the accident has been released.