talking about her two-time Horse of the Year Rollo. “I knew he was a horse that I wanted to rodeo on because he is so solid. He is the reason that makes me want to rodeo and do this.” So how will the champion approach the 10 days in the desert? “Just be grateful that we are there in the first place and try not to put too much pressure on myself. It is going to be a little bit different this year, as I had no expectation last year. I was just happy to be there. Last year, my horse was pretty young still and he had never run 10 times in 10 days, especially in that tiny arena. You just never know if your horse is going to get tight or what to expect running that many times in the same arena. So, I think this year it is going to be a little harder because I have expectations now. I will just have to really focus on making my run every day and not get so caught up in trying to duplicate last year. “My goal is always the average no matter what rodeo I go to. I think if your goal is to be good in the average, then you are good through everything. I want to go make solid runs and stay good in the average and then believe the best horse wins at the end.”
making her third appearance at the NFR. On the other end of the spectrum, it took veteran Lisa Lockhart 93 rodeos to earn her 16th consecutive qualification after a last weekend push at the end of the regular season to land her No. 14 on the standing’s leaderboard with $84,871. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi’s qualification matches Lockhart with 16. The only two WPRA members to have more qualifications are Charmayne James and Sherry Cervi with 19 each. Lisa Lockhart had to claw her way into the top 15 in 2022 to qualify for her 16th straight NFR. Promise Me Fame Guys “Levee” (shown here) helped carry the fan favorite to another NFR and also carried her across the $3 million mark in career earnings at the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in October. In so doing, she became just the second WPRA member to accomplish that feat joining Sherry Cervi in this exclusive and elite group. Photo by Jackie Jensen
WRANGLER NFR PAYOFF TOTAL: $10.900 MILLION
Guaranteed prize money: $1.2 million Competition prize money: $9,700,098
Each of the 10 Full Go-Rounds: $93,270 each 1ST
$28,913.70 (per man in team roping) $22,851.15 (per man in team roping) $17,254.95 (per man in team roping) $12,125.10 (per man in team roping) $7,461.60 (per man in team roping) $4,663.50 (per man in team roping) $74,149.92 (per man in team roping) $60,159.36 (per man in team roping) $47,567.87 (per man in team roping) $34,976.38 (per man in team roping) $25,182.99 (per man in team roping) $18,187.71 (per man in team roping) $12,591.50 (per man in team roping) $6,995.27 (per man in team roping)
2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH 6TH
A total of four NFR newcomers are among the list of qualifiers this year including WPRA Rookie of the Year Bayleigh Choate. Joining Choate for their first opportunity to run down the alleyway into the little yellow arena are Sissy Winn, Margo Crowther and Leslie Smalygo. Not only will Briggs be back to defend her world title but also her average title. In 2021, she followed in her mother’s footsteps in an additional way, winning the average title and setting a new NFR average record inside the Thomas and Mack with a total time of 136.83 seconds on 10 runs. This surpassed Nellie Miller’s record of 137.32 set in 2017. “His consistency is why I knew he was special and why I kept him,” noted Briggs when
Average Payout: $279,811 each 1ST
2ND 3RD 4TH 5TH 6TH 7TH 8TH
In 2021, Jordon Briggs took home the NFR average title and the WPRA World Championship. If Briggs is able to defend both titles in back-to-back years, she will join a very elite group to accomplish that feat – Kristie Peterson (Jordon’s mother), Charmayne James and Jane Mayo. WPRA photo by Rod Connor
NOVEMBER 2022 WPRA NEWS 13
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