WOMEN’S BREAKAWAY ROPING HISTORY G irls’ breakaway first emerged in high school rodeo. The National High School Rodeo Association has been crowning a national champion since 1953. The event didn’t appear in college rodeo until 1969. The WPRA had was determined by the ProRodeo standings instead of the traditional WPRA co-approved standings. As a result of the WPRA and PRCA partnership women breakaway ropers now have more opportunities and the two Associations are working to make the event more “rodeo mainstream.”
tie-down roping dating back to 1948 but added breakaway roping in the 1970’s off and on until it was an annual event in 1989. The first- ever WPRA Breakaway Roping World Champion was Becky Berggen in 1974, followed by Becky Fuchs in 1975. A champion wouldn’t be named again until 1982 when Pam Minick won the title. In 2017, the breakaway ropers of the WPRA began making efforts to introduce their event into Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) events in the Columbia River Circuit (that includes the states of Oregon and Washington) with the hope this small spark would light a bigger fire within the industry. They introduced breakaway into iconic rodeos like Ellensburg, Washington and Pendleton, Oregon, and by 2019 the WPRA was sanctioning up to 30 breakaway roping events at PRCA rodeos. In 2020, the WPRA in partnership with the PRCA agreed to open it up to any sanctioned rodeo wanting to add breakaway roping to their list of events bringing a new spotlight to the event as never before. The WPRA started keeping standings for breakaway events held at PRCA sanctioned rodeos versus those events co-approved by the WPRA. As a result in 2020 the WPRA World Champion Breakaway Roper
In 2020, there were a total of 54 PRCA rodeos that featured ladies breakaway roping and that number grew to 214 in 2021. 2022 had over 350 rodeos including iconic rodeos like San Antonio and RodeoHouston. EVENT DESCRIPTION Don’t blink or you may just miss the run. In breakaway roping, the cowgirl has a flag tied close to the end of her rope and a nylon string tied from the rope to the saddle horn. Once the barrier is released and the calf leaves the roping chute, the cowgirl gives chase throwing the loop around the calf’s neck. When the rope grows tight after the calf is roped, the string breaks away from the saddle horn and the flag goes flying, signaling the timer to stop the clock. The time in the breakaway roping can sometimes get as fast as 1.7 seconds and since it is a timed event, the fastest time wins. A broken barrier results in a 10-second penalty.
Breakaway Roping World Champions 1974-2021 Becky Berggren 1974 Becky Fuchs 1975 Pam Minick 1982 Heather Hodson 1983 Betty Gayle Cooper 1989 Jayme Reaves 1990 Jimmi Jo Martin 1991 Jimmi Jo Martin 1992 Lisa Pulse-Gasperson 1993 Lisa Gasperson 1994 JJ Hampton 1995 JJ Hampton 1996 Lisa Gasperson 1997 Rhonda Harrison 1998 JJ Hampton 1999 Ashlee Miller 2000 April Harms 2001 Nora Hunt 2002 Tami Noble 2003 Kim Williamson 2004 Kim Williamson 2005 Leigh Ann Billingsley 2006 Tammy Lewis 2007 Lari Dee Guy 2008 Tana Felhauer 2009 Lari Dee Guy 2010 Erin Johnson 2011 Erin Johnson 2012 Hope Thompson 2013 Jackie Hobbs Crawford 2014 Erin Johnson 2015 Jackie Crawford 2016 Kelsie Chace 2017 Kelsie Chace 2018 Kelsie Chace 2019 Jackie Crawford 2020 Sawyer Gilbert 2021
20 WPRA NEWS NOVEMBER 2022
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