ON TOP OF THE WORLD Angelone Adds More Accomplishments To Resume By Josie Fladager M artha Angelone has been on a roll this summer – in just a month, she won the 103rd Reno (Nevada) Rodeo, took over the No. 1 spot in the world standings, and won the NFR Open. The Stephenville, Texas, cowgirl says her
mental game is stronger than it has been in previous years, she has more horsepower than ever before, and she is on a mission for a gold buckle in November. After a broken barrier took her out of the running for the famous Reno spurs in 2021, Angelone says she was looking for two solid runs to get her back to the short round this year. She was just out of the money with a time of 3.7 seconds in the first round, but then placed second in the second round with a time of 2.5 seconds. Just like she planned, she roped consistently to come back to the short round as fourth high callback. Angelone roped her final calf at Reno in 2.7 seconds to secure the average win and take home the legendary Reno Rodeo spurs, which she chose to keep in her trailer as decoration and motivation after sending some things home at the end of Cowboy Christmas. She heavily attributes her win to Legend, a 12-year-old gelding she recently added to her roster. “He’s probably the fastest horse I’ve ever ridden,” said Angelone. “He does his job every time and he’s just a winner. It makes it ten times easier on me to rope off of him because I know I just have to do my job.” Overall, Angelone earned a total of $6,474 at Reno to move her even closer to the top spot in the world standings. On July 6 following the Fourth of July run, she overtook that No. 1 spot, and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Roping incredibly consistently, Angelone won the first ever NFR Open, formerly known as the RAM National Circuit Finals, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Coming out with a bang, she won the first round
with a time of 2.4 seconds “When I was going there, I wanted to try to win as much money as I possibly could,” said Angelone. “I won the first round and I knew I just had to be smart to win the average.” Angelone says she took another swing in the second round to ensure her place in the average; she still won money, placing fifth with a time of 2.6 seconds. This businesswoman move would pay off, earning her another check as the leader of the average going into the last two rounds. Angelone’s draw as the last roper out for the semifinal and final rounds would play to her favor, allowing her to see what she needed to do in order to place well in each of the final rounds. “I like knowing exactly what I need to be,” noted Angelone. “It ended up being a little softer than what I thought it was going to be and I just had to go make two solid runs.” Roping within a tenth of her first two runs, a time of 2.5 seconds in the semifinals would earn her yet another round win. A time of 3.0 seconds in the final round secured her the inaugural breakaway roping title at the NFR Open, out roping Rickie Engesser, who finished with a 5.0-second run and Bailey Kieckbusch in 12.10 seconds. Accomplishing her goal going in, Angelone increased her world standings total by about 50-percent adding $25,675 to move her into a commanding lead. Angelone says one of the largest reasons she has done well this summer is due to the investment she has made in horsepower. She bought Legend after winning Reno, and another gelding called Jesse James after winning the Women’s Rodeo World Championship in May. Both horses came from Tanner Green, and Angelone says these continued on page 29 Martha Angelone has been on a roll as of late and continues to add more accomplishments to her resume. At the end of June, Angelone captured the win in Reno (shown here) to earn her first set of Reno Rodeo spurs and then followed that up with a win at the NFR Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Photo by Fernando Sam Sin
Martha Angelone won the inaugural breakaway roping title at the NFR Open. 2022 marked the first year that breakaway roping was included in the circuit finals championship which was previously known as the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo. A name change, location change, and new featured event made the event one for the history books and Angelone etched her name as the first breakaway champion. Now Angelone would like to add her name as a world champion for 2022 having narrowly missed the title in 2020. Photo by Brian Gauck
AUGUST 2022 WPRA NEWS 23
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