LARAMIE – For Josey Stender, it turned into a perfect sister storm on the recruiting trail.
 
Three years ago, Wyoming's head coach was pursuing Kira Reisner, a talented prospect from Simi Valley High School in the Los Angeles area.
 
Reisner was not planning to sign with the Cowgirls and was mapping out a path toward her long-term goal of playing on the LPGA Tour when Stender first reached out.
 
"I remember being in my senior year of high school, and I was kind of torn with offers and what to do," Reisner said. "My ultimate goal was to make it to the LPGA, and I remember Coach reached out to me, and I was like, 'I'm going to take a gap year. I'm so sorry. Thank you for your interest.'"
 
Stender convinced Reisner to visit Laramie with her father, Cory Reisner, a former PGA Tour card holder.
 
"We were like, where are we? This is so different than what we're used to, and I just fell in love with Laramie. I've never loved a place so much," Kira said. "I thought it was so cute, and it was so different than Los Angeles in the best way."
 
Instead of taking a gap year, Reisner redshirted at UW during the 2023–24 season and emerged as an important piece of the lineup in 2024–25.
 
Stender didn't become aware of Reisner's younger sister, Kiley, and her program-changing talent until after Kira had arrived on campus.
 
"Nope," Stender said. "And Kira's recruiting story is very different from Kiley's. They are different, but they also share the same values, commitment level and work ethic. It's kind of funny how things work out. I've had multiple sisters in the program over the years, which is fun, especially as a parent, seeing them have their journeys separate yet together."
 
Kira and her golf-centric family did not pressure Kiley to follow. It took time for the second wave of the storm to reach 7,220 feet.
 
"I took a visit to Wyoming, and I was like, I love the coaches, I love the facilities, but let me just keep seeing what's out there," Kiley said. "I went and saw what was out there and was like, Wyoming has the best facilities and the best coaches.
 
"When you talk to coaches during the recruiting process, they're like car salesmen. Everything is awesome, everything is great, and you don't really know any of the bad or any of the good. But with my sister on the team, honestly, I knew what Wyoming was like."
 
The Reisner family, devout Christians, leaned on faith during the decision. Sitting in church, Kiley felt certain about UW.
 
"I told Stender, committed, de-committed from anywhere else and posted on Instagram. Then I told my parents," Kiley said with a laugh. "They were like, well, I guess you made the decision. They weren't pressuring me to go here or anything, but I'm sure it made their day to have both their daughters come play together here."
 
The Cowgirls are on the rise, with the Reisner sisters joining senior Meghan Vogt, junior Elle Higgins and sophomore Emerson Purcell in the lineup this spring.
 
The program record book has needed updating almost every tournament this season as UW heads into the Mountain West Women's Golf Championships this week at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California.
 
Higgins set the UW record for low individual round with a 67 at the Wolverine Invitational on Sept. 8. Vogt matched it with a 67 at the Ron Moore Collegiate on Oct. 3.
 
Kiley Reisner set the school record for low 54-hole score at 207 (-9) on April 8 at the Cowgirl Classic, breaking Higgins' 209 (-7) from the Wolverine Invitational, where the Cowgirls posted a team score of 853 (-11).
 
At last week's Bobcat Desert Classic, Kiley won medalist honors. She also captured the Thunderbird Classic on March 9 in St. George, Utah.
 
"I knew she was going to come here and kill it, but I didn't know to this extent," Kira said of Kiley's freshman season. "This has been pretty cool to watch."
 
Kiley, who was part of a five-way tie for first through 36 holes at the Bobcat Desert before a final-round 69 gave her a two-shot win, said having her sister on the same team creates a unique balance.
 
"Having my sister with me adds pressure and takes off pressure," she said. "I like watching the scoreboard as we play, which is really rare for golfers and not the coaches' favorite thing for me to do. I'll watch my sister's score more than mine sometimes, and I'm so focused on her that it kind of takes the pressure off me.
 
"When she's playing well, I'm like, OK, now I have to play really well so our team can just dominate."
 
At the Thunderbird Classic, Kira was tied for first after two rounds and Kiley was tied for third. Kiley shot 70 in the final round to win at 2-under, while Kira shot 77 to finish seventh at 3-over.
 
"It's hard to put into words," Kira said. "That was one of the coolest moments in my golf career so far. I remember getting off the course and Kiley jumped on me. She was like, 'I'm so proud of you, but I'm coming for you tomorrow.'
 
"It's been really cool from a family perspective and from a golf perspective to push each other and try to achieve the goal of the Reisner sisters being on the LPGA Tour. What my dad always says is your coach gave you a chance, and we want to put Wyoming golf on the map."
 
Their parents remain a constant presence. Cory follows each tournament and livestreams their rounds, while their mother, Melanie, tracks the sister not on camera from a cart.
 
"It's a sense of assurance and comfort," Kiley said. "My dad has been there with me through it all, and when he watches, he knows exactly what I'm thinking. He'll comment on the livestream, and I'll go back and watch and be like, that's exactly what I was thinking."
 
Kiley is the first Cowgirl to win two tournaments in a season since Kelly Meyers in 1989. Jordan Lintz holds the program record with three career wins.
 
The Cowgirls, seeking their first Mountain West title, are hoping that storm keeps building this week, beginning with Tuesday's opening round.
 
The conference champion earns an automatic berth to NCAA Regionals, with a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships May 22–27 in Carlsbad, California.
 
"The momentum is really rolling for Wyoming, and we have a belief that I feel like other teams don't," Kira said. "I really think that we're going to make a run."
 
Follow Ryan for more stories on Wyoming athletics on X at @By_RyanThorburn on Facebook at Wyoming Athletics and Instagram at wyoathletics. Also follow him at Pokes Insider at Gowyo.com/pokesinsider.
 
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