Josey Stender enters her 20th season at the helm for the University of Wyoming women’s golf team in 2023-24. Stender has served as head coach of the Cowgirls and Assistant Director of Wyoming Golf since August of 2005. The UW program has grown by leaps and bounds on the golf course during Stender’s tenure, while also continuing its tradition of achievements in the academic realm. Much of the success comes from Stender’s coaching philosophy, which exemplifies her compassion for molding young adults.
“I value the idea that members of our Wyoming golf team have a great college experience on and off the course,” Stender said of her student-athletes. “I look for well-rounded student-athletes who are willing to work hard to accomplish their goals athletically, while also striving to excel in the classroom for their future.”
Through the 2022-23 season, a total of 48 Cowgirl student-athletes have been named All-American Scholars by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) under Stender. The Cowgirls have also earned a total of 108 Academic All-Mountain West honors and 65 MW Scholar-Athlete Awards during Stender’s tenure.
Stender has helped broaden the name of Wyoming golf by hosting several successful women’s tournaments. The program annually hosts the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic in Arizona each spring. In recent history, the Cowgirls have co-hosted with Boise State the Mountain Match Play Classic in Palm Desert, Calif. Previously, Stender and her team also hosted the Cowgirl Desert Intercollegiate at The Classic Club in Palm Desert.
In the 2002-23 season, the Cowgirls had 11 individual Top 25 finishes for the season, and the Cowgirls captured the team title at the 2023 Southern Utah Pizza Hut Lady Thunderbird Invitational. Jadan Gonzalez and Meghan Vogt recorded the top finishes of the season when they both tied for seventh at the SUU Lady Thunderbird Invitational. Graduate Samantha Hui led the Cowgirls with four Top 25 finishes during the 2022-23 season. Senior Jadan Gonzalez and sophomore Kyla Wilde each notched three Top 25 finishes on the season. UW’s other top team finish was an eighth-place showing in an 18-team field at the Utah Valley Hobble Creek Invitational. Four Cowgirls achieved WGCA All-American Scholar honors. They included: Samantha Hui, Grace Dunkleberger, Jadan Gonzalez and Rachel Stoinski. All 10 members of the Cowgirl Golf team earned Academic All-Mountain West honors for the 2022-23 season and six team members achieved Mountain West Scholar-Athlete honors.
The Cowgirls opened the 2021-22 campaign strong finishing seventh amongst a 17-team field at the UVU Hobble Creek Classic. They followed that up with another strong showing at the Coeur d’Alene Resort Collegiate Invitational. During their hot start the true freshman duo of Kyla Wilde and Meghan Vogt led the way for the Cowgirls with each of them coming in as the top finisher for Wyoming in one of the first two tournaments of the season. The Cowgirls found more success at the Mountain Classic Match Play event where they finished sixth before capping off the year by finishing ninth at the Mountain West Championships. Following the season three Cowgirls earned WGCA All-American Scholar Honors with Christiana Ciasca, Samantha Hui and Jessica Zapf all earning the distinction.
It was a different year for the Cowgirls in 2019-20, as the season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cowgirls were still solid through the campaign. As a team, the Cowgirls had five Top 10 finishes in seven of the events in which they competed, including both events during the spring season. In their best tournament finish at the CSU Ram Fall Classic, the Cowgirls placed fourth out of 13 teams with a 33-over par score of 903. At the Hobble Creek Fall Classic, UW shot a school best 290 (+6) final round and a three-day total of 883 (+31), which is second best all-time in school history. They would follow that up with a sixth-place showing at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif., with a final score of 947 (+83). Senior Erin Sargent posted a team best 76.1 stroke average in her 21 rounds of play and had three Top 10 finishes. Cristiana Ciasca got out of the gates quickly and earned a share of the individual title at the Hobble Creek Fall Classic. It was the first title of her Wyoming career and she shot a career-best final round 68 (-3). Six Cowgirls earned WGCA All-American Scholar Honors for the second year in a row, Cristiana Ciasca, Samantha Hui, Morgan Ryan, Erin Sargent, Caitlyn Skavdahl and Jessica Zapf
During the 2018-19 campaign, the Cowgirls recorded five Top 10 finishes on the year. Their best finish was sixth place at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. They would follow that up with a seventh-place finish at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate. At the NAU Red Rocks Invite, the Cowgirls posted a school best 54-hole low team event score of 872 (+20). Junior Erin Sargent played in all 27 rounds and had a school best individual stroke average of 74.7 on the season, while senior Megan Knadler finished her year with a 75.3 stroke average, which is third all-time in school history. Six individuals earned WGCA All-American Scholar honors, Sarah Hankins, Knadler, Sargent, Caitlyn Skavdahl, Samantha Hui and Cristiana Ciasca.
In 2017-18, the Cowgirls recorded a couple of Top Five finishes and a win at the Lady Thunderbird Invitational. At the Thunderbird, Wyoming recorded a final-round score of 292 (+4) to take home a two-shot victory at the event. The final round team score tied for the second-best in Cowgirl history and the win was the first for UW since the fall of 2008. Stender helped guide senior Gabrielle Gibson to a strong final season as a Cowgirl with five Top 10 individual finishes, including a win at the FIU Pat Bradley Invitational. Gibson recorded a 74.7 stroke average during her senior season. The 2017-18 season also saw impressive performances from sophomore Erin Sargent and junior Megan Knadler, who each recorded Top 10 finishes during their campaigns. Sargent, Sarah Hankins and Caitlyn Skavdahl each earned All-American Scholar honors, as well.
The 2016-17 season concluded with UW earning five Top Five finishes in its 10 tournaments. The Cowgirls finished seventh at the MW Championship with a three-round total of 925 (+61). It was the second-best team score for the Brown and Gold at the MW Championships they’ve competed in. Erin Sargent led the way for the Brown and Gold and tied for 21st in the individual rankings. With Sargent’s top individual finish, it became the second-straight year a freshman led UW at the championship. Gabrielle Gibson closed out her junior campaign with a 76.0 stroke average. Additionally, senior Mackenzie Barrie closed out her final season with a 76.6 stroke average, as Sargent recorded a 76.7 average. Barrie’s season average is 10th best in UW history. Sarah Hankins was joined by Barrie, Megan Knadler and Sargent as WGCA All-American Scholars.
The 2015-16 season was highlighted by a couple Top Five team finishes for the Cowgirls. Wyoming claimed second at the Bobcat Spring Invite and took fourth place at the Grand Canyon Invite. At the GCU Invite, Stender guided Gibson to a second-place finish, which at the time was the best of her career. It also became the top individual finish for a Cowgirl since Juanita Rico finished second at the Guistana Memorial Classic in 2011. Just before conference play, UW was led by four Cowgirls in the Top 20 at the Bobcat Spring Invite. Stender’s list of achievements while directing the Cowgirls include helping the program rewrite the Wyoming record book and garnering multiple team and individual honors. Under her tutelage, the Cowgirls have posted their top team tournament scores and top team single-round scores in school history.
Individually, several members of the UW women’s golf team have shined with the help of Stender. She coached Jonelle Martinez from 2007-10. Martinez was one of the most accomplished golfers in Wyoming history and became only the second Cowgirl to win an individual Mountain West Championship by claiming the title in 2009 and earning First Team All-Conference honors. Stender also coached Mikala Henzlik when she placed fourth at the MW Championship in 2006 and Jonelle Martinez, who tied for fourth at the 2010 MW Championship.
Stender came to UW from Boise, Idaho, where she had been the communications director for the Idaho Golf Association. A collegiate golfer at the University of Memphis from 1998-2003, she served as a graduate assistant intern at her alma mater in the fall of 2003. Stender earned her bachelor’s degree in education, with an emphasis on sports and leisure studies/sports management from Memphis in 2001, and then earned her Master of Science in sports and leisure commerce from Memphis in 2004. An accomplished student, she received numerous academic honors during her college career, including being named to the National Golf Coaches Association All-Scholar Athlete team three times; 1999-2000, 2001-02 and 2002-03.
Originally from Idaho, she had a successful amateur golf career, winning three state high school titles and capturing the 1999 Idaho Women’s Amateur Championship, as well as being named the Rocky Mountain PGA Female Amateur Golfer of the Year that same year. As a member of the USGA Idaho State Team in 2003, Stender was a participant at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship in 2004. Stender was runner-up in the 2001 Pacific Northwest Golf Association Women’s Amateur Championship. She currently is an apprentice for the LPGA Teaching and Club Professional Division.
Formerly Josey Edwards, she married Jeff Stender on Aug. 20, 2005. Josey and Jeff, who is principal of Beitel Elementary in Laramie, have a son, Griffin, born in July 2008, and twins Jovee and Porter, born in March 2010.