on the rest of the girls.” Whether it was moving cattle while riding a pony bareback as a child on the Plains of northeastern Colorado or making runs inside NRG Stadium or being one of the few women who have qualified for the National Finals Breakaway Roping in its first two years, she’s handled all the pressure presented to her and keeps doing it. Every life lesson has played a role in her success today. Now, she’ll have to decide whether to build onto her world standings lead or spend more time at home. It’s a tough decision, and she’ll likely make it before the summer run. “It boils down to Houston and the prestige of winning it,” she said. “I’m still in shock that I get to be the one that wins that. I don’t win a lot of rodeos; I win a lot of checks, but if I’m going to pick one, that’s the one. It’s like a dream come true.”
Erin Johnson, who has three WPRA world breakaway roping world titles to her name, was all smiles after winning the Championship Shootout round at RodeoHouston. As a result, she shot to the top of the WPRA World Standings for 2022 with nearly $50,000 won on the year. Only half of the $50,000 Shootout money counted toward the world standings this year for the breakaway ropers.
“I’m pretty excited to win Houston, because it is such a prestigious rodeo anyway. To go to Houston is cool; to win it is even better.” Stepping inside the massive NRG Stadium is aw-inspiring to many of the contestants that compete at Houston each year; the building’s magnitude is even larger when it’s a first-timer like all the breakaway
2022 PRCA/WPRA CIRCUIT STANDINGS BREAKAWAY ROPING Unofficial as of March 28, 2022 BADLANDS 1. Brandi White $1,534 2. Sloan Anderson $1,505 3. Syerra Christensen $1,492 4. Amber Carson $1,297 5. Patty Burress $1,005 6. Halley Kleemann $916 7. Bailey Berg $713 8. Kristy Lawrence $622 9. Kayla Olson $422 10. Teddi Morman $131 11. Calby Hanson $130 CALIFORNIA 1. Allie Hoskins $1,495 2. Kate Branco $688 3. Cathy Cagliari $649 Hanna Snodgrass $649 5. Noel Lambert $344 6. Karri Jones $282 7. Gianna Cianfichi $200 COLUMBIA RIVER 1. CourtneyWood $1,283 2. DanyelleWilliams $951 3. Julia Reeves $896 4. Melody Hale $74 FIRST FRONTIER No standings at this time GREAT LAKES 1. Jesse Alsup $739 Bailie Schuldt $739 3. Sierra Smith $478 MAPLE LEAF No standings at this time MONTANA No standings at this time MOUNTAIN STATES 1. Erin Johnson $2,517 PRAIRIE 1. Emma Charleston $3,105 2. Ari-Anna Flynn $2,471 3. Amber Coleman $1,078 4. Christi Braudrick $820 5. Hannah Lee $647 SOUTHEASTERN 1. Lacey Nail 2. Makayla Mack 3. Heather McLaughlin 4. Hollie Ladner 5. Shelby Osceola 6. Lindsey Pender 7. Taylor Smith 8. AmandaWeekley TEXAS 1. Martha Angelone 2. JJ Hampton 3. Bailey Gubert 4. Alex Loiselle 5. Lari Dee Guy 6. Jackie Crawford 7. Hope Thompson 8. Amber Crawford 9. Jordi Edens 10. Josie Conner 11. Whitney Thurmond 12. Bryanna Lehrmann 13. Cassidy Boggs 14. McKenna Hickson 15. KristaWilson TURQUOISE 1. Leigh Ann Scribner 2. Maddy Deerman 3. Cheyenne Blackmore 4. Keylie Tatum 5. Tibba Smith 6. Bethanie Shofner 7. Jessi Swartwood 8. Wyatte Grace Andrews 9. Kassidy Dennison 10. Shelby Schweitz 11. Brooke Pomeranz Kelly Torske 13. Nicole Baggarley 14. Kayse Mahoney Shawnee Sherwood WILDERNESS 1. Oaklie Sanders 2. Shelbie Allen SuzanneWilliams 3.
ropers. In addition to the rodeo, NRG Stadium is the home field for the Houston Texans, bowl games and other championship football games. “It’s almost overwhelming, especially when it gets loud in there,” she said. “When you’re down there on the arena floor, you’re almost removed from all the people until they get loud. When they would cheer at the end of my runs, that’s when it was almost deafening.”
$1,733 $1,295
$733 $717 $566 $489 $434 $145
$8,791 $8,346 $5,863 $5,533 $5,332 $4,719 $4,618 $4,138 $4,042 $4,025 $3,769 $3,612 $2,838 $2,575 $2,539 $2,583 $1,732 $1,636 $1,537 $1,191 $1,145 $1,092
Riding Chico, her 14-year- old palomino gelding with the registered name Husker Be Smokin, Johnson won Super Series 3 with a run of 2.7 seconds and advanced to the semifinals. As the first roper in Semifinal 1, Johnson broke the barrier and was saddled with a 10-second penalty, taking her lightning-quick run of 2.2 seconds to a 12.2. She figured her shot at the Houston crown had just slipped through her grasp. But just like Cinderella, the glass slipper reappeared when it served as the fourth-fastest run and enabled her to be in the championship round. “I was the gunner that night, and with the girls after me, I thought there was no way on God’s green earth that I was going to make the finals,” she said. “The pressure is huge. That rodeo is bigger than life, and anything can happen when there’s that much money on the line.” Johnson was up to the challenge. She was also the first to nod her head in the shootout round, posting a 2.7-second run. Nobody beat it. “When the pressure’s on and you have to do something, the difficulty level just rises,” said Johnson, who has a son and two daughters – Denton, 11; Evin, 7; and Annie, 5 – with her husband, Darnell. “I think that was a blessing for me in the final round. Going first, we all know I should have missed him, but it worked out; 2.7 isn’t the best run of the rodeo, but it was a good run on that day, and it put more pressure Erin Johnson of Fowler, Colorado, will definitely remember her first time to compete inside NRG Stadium and walk away with the grand prize. She finished atop the leaderboard in the shootout round with a 2.7-second run.
$786 $738 $722 $630 $630 $355 $234 $234
$2,408 $1,636 $1,319
APRIL 2022 WPRA NEWS 13
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