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Hurst Makes Headlines with First Reno Title

By Jolee Jordan

Ivy Hurst
Photo by Fernando Sam-Sin

Reno, Nevada — Winning a set of silver spurs that say Reno Rodeo Champion Barrel Racer is a bucket list goal for many cowgirls. At stake is not just a piece of one of pro rodeo’s most lucrative purses but a big boost in momentum as the rodeo season hits its big summer run.

Winning in 2019, on the 100th anniversary of the rodeo, is just double frosting on an already very sweet cake for the champion.

As the rodeo began its centennial celebration on June 21, it was anybody’s guess who would rise to the top in the WPRA’s barrel racing. Could two-time champ Nellie Miller win a third title, joining only WPRA World Champions, and ProRodeo Hall of Famers, Charmayne James, Kristie Peterson and Sammy Thurman-Brackenbury with so many wins at the Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West?

Would one of the hot rookies defy the odds and beat the veterans inside the huge Reno Livestock Events Center arena with crowds topping eight thousand five hundred enthusiastic fans?

Or would someone else break through and propel themselves to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo thanks to a big run on Saturday night?

Ninety-six cowgirls began the quest to be the 100th anniversary Reno Rodeo Champion. After two preliminary rounds, only 12 cowgirls remained on the final night, each with one more round to try to move to the top of the leaderboard.

Eighth Set, Friday, June 28

It was no surprise to see the two-time and reigning Reno Rodeo Champ Nellie Miller rise to the top during the final slack of the 2019 Reno Rodeo. Miller and her always tough mare Sister scampered through the pattern in a fast 17.25 to win third in the go round. Miller was one of three cowgirls to get into the money on Friday morning; Jill Wilson’s 17.27 slotted in right behind Miller in fourth while Shali Lord posted a 17.31 to win sixth.

Lord took her stallion Can Man to the top in the Friday night performance, stopping the clock 17.28 seconds. She and leader Ivy Hurst are the only two cowgirls to place in both the first and second round payoffs.

Lord moved to a tie for third and fourth in the average at 34.59 seconds with Miller moving into fifth right behind them at 34.61 seconds, just fourteen one-hundredths of a second behind Hurst as she chases her third straight Reno championship.

Championship Round

Oklahoma cowgirl Ivy Hurst led from wire-to-wire through the preliminary rounds after taking the lead on the opening day. Hurst and her great horse Diddy held off all challengers to carry the eight one-hundredth lead over Sabra O’Quinn into in the final night.

Jill Welsh
2019 Fast Time of the Rodeo 17.06 seconds
Photo By Fernando Sam-Sin

Three former Reno champions made the short round in 2019: Miller, Jill Welsh and Stevi Hillman. Hillman punched her ticket after tying for the final qualifying position but winning out over Lacinda Rose by virtue of the tie breaker: Hillman’s 17.18 in round two was the fastest single run produced by the two cowgirls, allowing her to advance to the final night.

The order of competition in the short round is drawn although the committee hand rakes following each cowgirl to keep the conditions as even as possible throughout the competition. As luck had it, Miller drew the top spot, giving her a chance to lay down the mark to beat. Hurst ran second while other top contenders O’Quinn, Cheeney and Lord were further down in the draw. In fact, Lord would be the final lady to compete.

As expected, the 2017 WPRA World Champion came out smooth and fast, showing the consistency that has become their trademark. Miller and Sister were 17.27 seconds on the run, fast to be sure but leaving the door cracked a bit for the field.

Turned out that Hurst didn’t need much space and that her big, brown gelding Diddy hadn’t cooled off since his first runs a week prior to the finals. As the second runners, the team posted a 17.11 second run, the best of the rodeo at that point.

At 51.58 seconds, Hurst’s time was three tenths ahead of the reigning champion to set a high bar for any challenger yet to run.

Leading WPRA rookie Carly Taylor was next in the draw. Running in her first Reno Rodeo finals, she ran 17.56 seconds.

Megan McLeod-Sprague ran fourth on the night. She and her great gelding Bucky seem to love Reno, finishing inside the top five in each of the past two years. In 2019 she moved up the ladder. With a blistering 17.21 on the final night, McLeod-Sprague moved to second in the average at 51.85, just three one hundredths of a second ahead of Miller.

O’Quinn and her mare Nosey ran next. Coming into the round with the best chance of catching Hurst of anyone in the field, she needed to run a 17.02 to take the lead. After taking a bit wider go around the first, she finished up in 17.53, not enough to take over the lead but good enough to stay in the money.

Texas cowgirl Ryann Pedone also ran into the mid-17’s, putting 17.55 on the board from sixth on the ground. She moved into a tie with Taylor at 52.33 seconds on three runs.

Next came a run that had fans and fellow barrel racers alike standing to cheer. 2015 Reno Champion Jill Welsh was back in town aboard the 2015 AQHA/WPRA Horse of the Year Custer, the second lefty competing on Saturday. A cancer survivor twice over, Welsh narrowly missed a berth into the Wrangler NFR that season, finishing 16th in the WPRA World standings.

On Saturday night in Reno, she seemed carried on wings as Custer flawlessly glided around three barrels. The clock stopped at 17.06, the fastest time of the entire rodeo. Just out of the money in both opening go rounds, Welsh jumped up the average standings with the speedy run, landing fourth at the time.

After Wrangler NFR cowgirl Jessie Telford took the round’s first barrel penalty on the next run, it was up to Wyoming cowgirl Sara Cheeney. Cheeney was competing in her first Reno Rodeo as she seasons her mare Mac to the rodeo scene following a successful futurity and derby career. The pair has looked anything but green here, picking up a big check in round two and finishing their 2019 Reno Rodeo in 17.39 seconds. She landed in a tie with Welsh for fourth and fifth in the average at the time.

The final former champ competing on Saturday, Stevi Hillman, ran next though she wasn’t aboard the same horse that carried her to the title in 2016. That year she ran her bay gelding Truck but in 2019, she called upon Toni Dixon’s pretty palomino Sherlock. The pair was able to run a 17.30, helping her move up from the 12th position in the average.

After second ranked rookie Megan Champion ran into a little bit of trouble with her run, managing only an 18.07, Hurst had just one more lady to get by and she is a formidable one.

A former Wrangler NFR qualifier, Lord has won big rodeos in the past and looks poised for a second Wrangler NFR appearance in 2019 as she comes out of the winter and spring in sixth position in the WPRA World standings. She would need to break seventeen seconds to hoist the silver spurs.

Making a long, calm walk down the big arena in Reno, Lord positioned Can Man for the run and finally let him fly. She made a smoking run, good enough for third in the round at 17.17 seconds. The time was good enough for second in the average, eighteen one-hundredths behind Hurst.

Hurst and Lord were the only cowgirls to place in every payoff, earning $10,511 and $7,690, respectively. Ranked 38th prior to Reno, Hurst will jump up about ten positions in the standings, keeping alive any Wrangler NFR dreams for 2019.

“As I wake this morning I get to realize this wasn’t just a dream! I think about Whitney DeSalvo’s post I just shared, “work until your idols become your rivals,”” Hurst posted to Facebook on Sunday morning. “So much truth to that for me.”

“Year after year, I’ve watched the Reno finals and it is always great watching to see the very best in the world go head to head! But last night….. it was my turn as some would say! To win the Reno Rodeo on its 100th year celebration is just a fairy tale ending to all the long days of hard work that got me where I am today!”

“If there’s one thing you take away from this, it’s to NEVER GIVE UP!” she continued. “If you want something, go after it, day after day, take the good runs in stride with the bad! When you’re in a slump, you don’t always see it at the time, but God is teaching you how to win, if you choose to let him. Let the failures makes the victories that much sweeter! Don’t make excuses and follow your heart!”

Hurst took time to thank her equine partner too.

“Top Of The Roc is such a special horse and for him I am so grateful! He really does give me his heart! Extra cookies for him today!” she wrote. “THANK YOU to each and every one of you that called or text! Sorry my service hasn’t been to great! It’s the support from you that melts my heart!”

Hurst also gathered 240 points on the Wrangler Network Tour; thanks to Wrangler, the top point earners at the tour’s end will get bonus money. Telford is leading those standings though Miller (2nd) and Hillman (5th) both gained ground in Reno.

Already in solid position, Lord will go over $60,000 in the standings while Miller padded her position as the standings leader as the Fourth of July run begins in earnest this week.

Though the short round didn’t go quite as she’d wanted, Champion was honored in Reno as the California Six Pac Champ. The title is determined based on points awarded to those contestants who entered and competed in each rodeo in the series: Oakdale, Red Bluff, Clovis, Hayward, Redding, Livermore and Reno. The winner receives a buckle and $4,000 bonus; second place is also awarded a $2,000 bonus.

“I’m so honored to say Smarty pants and Katy won the six pack award,” Champion posted to social media. “Reno was exciting just to have made it back . . . was a wonderful experience. Smarty made $2k placing 4th in the 2nd Round. We may have had a terrible run in the last round at Reno (horses have a mind of their own and it’s a reminder we all have bad runs). I’m just grateful to have made it back and the opportunity to run with some of the best girls in the world.”

For more information on the Reno Rodeo and its long history, visit them on-line at www.renorodeo.com.


Results

1st Go
Name, Horse Name, Time

1. Ivy Hurst, Top of the Roc, 17.14, $3,311
2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Ima Famous Babe, 17.18, $2,838
3. Nellie Miller, Rafter W Minnie Reba, 17.25, $2,365
4. Jill Wilson, Lean Mean Blue Dean, 17.27, $2,050
5. Megan McLeod-Sprague, Fast Feet N Freedom, 17.29, $1,577
6. Shali Lord, Freckles ta Fame, 17.31, $1,261
7. Lacinda Rose, RR Meradas Real Deal, 17.35, $946
8. Tyra Kane, Majestic Knight, 17.36, $631
9. Ashley Castleberry, Calfee Stormy Dash, 17.38, $473
10. Amanda Waller, Streak A Roses, 17.40, $315

2nd Go

1. Sabra O’Quinn, Bring It On Guys, 17.14, $3,311
2. Sara Cheeney, Miss Mac N Fame, 17.16, $2,838
3. Stevi Hillman, Guys R A Mystery, 17.18, $2,365
4. Megan Champion, Miss Dual Smartee, 17.19, $2,050
5. Randi Buchanan, Royal Flight Ta Fame, 17.21, $1,577
6. Ryann Pedone, Dash ta Jones, 17.22, $1,261
7. Lord, 17.28, $946, $946
8. Carly Taylor, Diva Deniro, 17.29, $631
9. Jody Hale, Too the Hilt, 17.33, $394
10. Hurst, 17.33, $394

Average on Two (Short Round Qualifiers)

1. Hurst, 34.47
2. O’Quinn, 34.55
3. Cheeney, 34.59
4. Lord, 34.59
5. Miller, 34.61
6. McLeod-Sprague, 34.64
7. Taylor, 34.77
8. Pedone, 34.78
9. Champion, 34.89
10. Jill Welsh, French First Watch, 34.92
11. Jessie Telford, Famous Cool Whip, 35.01
12. Rose, 35.04
13. Hillman, 35.04*

*Advances by tie breaker, fastest single run

Short Go Round

1. Welsh, 17.06, $2,453
2. Hurst, 17.11, $1,839
3. Lord, 17.17, $1,226
4. McLeod-Sprague, 17.21, $613

Average on Three

1. Hurst, 51.58, $4,967
2. Lord, 51.76, $4,257
3. McLeod-Sprague, 51.85, $3,548
4. Miller, 51.88, $3,075
5. Cheeney, 51.98, $2,129
6. Welsh, 51.98, $2,129
7. O’Quinn, 52.08, $1,419
8. Pedone, 52.33, $828
9. Taylor, 52.33, $828
10. Hillman, 52.34, $473

Total Money Won

Ivy Hurst, $10,511
Shali Lord, $7,690
Megan McLeod-Sprague, $5,738
Nellie Miller, $5,440
Sara Cheeney, $4,967
Sabra O’Quinn, $4,730
Jill Welsh, $4,582
Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, $2,838
Stevi Hillman, $2,838
Ryann Pedone, $2,089
Megan Champion, $2,050
Jill Wilson, $2,050
Randi Buchanan, $1,577
Carly Taylor, $1,459
Lacinda Rose, $946
Tyra Kane, $631
Ashley Castleberry, $473
Jody Hale, $394
Amanda Waller, $315

Courtesy of WPRA

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