DOKA DOUBLED DOWN Justine Doka More Than Doubles Her World Standings Total With Gold Medal Win at Salt Lake City By Josie Mac Fladager T he desert mountains towered over the small community of Fort McDowell, Arizona as young Justine Doka practiced swinging her rope for the upcoming Indian rodeo. Little did she know at the time that her persistent practice would lead her to be the 2011 Indian
National Finals Rodeo (INFR) Breakaway champion, the ranks of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association, and, recently, to a gold medal at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City. The INFR records breakaway champions back to 1991, and Doka perfected her craft growing up in the association, competing against the best in the business from a young age. The recent increasing popularity of breakaway in PRCA rodeos allowed Doka to begin competing in professional rodeos as a member of the WPRA. The Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo at Salt Lake City was one that Doka just happened to enter this year. She roped her first calf with a solid time of 2.8 seconds. Her second calf stuck its tail in the air as it ran to the other end of the Utah State Fair Park arena. Doka threw every inch of rope she had in her hand, and her loop just fell over the calf’s head as her rope broke from her saddle horn to stop the clock at 3.5 seconds. She finished No. 8 in the average with 6.3 seconds on two head. Doka’s position in the average allowed her to choose from any of the performances in Salt Lake City, and she strategically chose the first performance to be able to also make another rodeo. Doka roped her calf in an electrifying 1.8 seconds in the Wednesday night performance to qualify to the Gold Medal Round the following Monday.
And hers it became. One of Doka’s greatest joys of the victory was seeing her 4-year-old daughter Brindle standing by the fence in front of the stage with Begay when Doka received her medal. Leading up to that rodeo, she and Brindle had been on a different rodeo road than Begay, and Doka and had relied on friends and family to help with Brindle while she was competing. “That was one of my biggest wins ever and I was happy to do what I did with her there,” Doka joyfully explained. “It was kind of unexplainable; I just felt on cloud nine.” The gold medal was accompanied by $10,000 in the short round. Overall, Doka won over $13,000 at the rodeo — more than doubling her WPRA winnings for the year. Doka is still competing at Indian rodeos, but also looking more to professional rodeos as her sister Fallon joins her in the rig to help take care of Brindle. As for the gold medal, Doka was in awe of the unique memento. “It felt like you were at the Olympics standing up there on the stage getting your gold medal. There’s one gold medal they give out, and to win it is one of the best feelings in the world.” Justine Doka was a force to be reckoned with at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City. Doka, who won the Indian National Finals Rodeo breakaway roping title in 2011, can now add a gold medal to her collection. Photo by Ric Andersen
Doka roped on “Hannah,” a 14-year-old bay mare in the first three rounds. The mare is owned by her newlywed husband, nine-time NFR qualifying header Derrick Begay, and the couple both roped on the mare at Salinas. But she came up lame after Doka’s first run in Salinas Friday. Hannah slowly began to get better over the weekend, and she and Doka were ready for their short round run in Salt Lake City. “I don’t want to come off as too cocky, but I was confident in my abilities,” Doka said. “I told myself, ‘I’ve already done this a million times at practice. Let’s just make it a million and one and that gold medal is yours.’” Justine Doka talks with sideline reporter Janie Johnson after winning the first performance at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo in a time of 1.8 seconds to easily advance to the Gold Medal Round. Once there she threw another perfect loop stopping the clock in 2.0 seconds to lead the way and picked up an additional $10,000 to add to her 2023 standings. Photo by Ric Andersen
Justine Doka stood atop the gold medal stand in Salt Lake City with her husband, Derrick Begay and daughter, Brindle looking on. Zoie Bedke (left) took home the silver medal, while three-time WPRA World Champion Erin Johnson captured the bronze to add to her trophy case. Photo by Ric Andersen
32 WPRA NEWS AUGUST 2023
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