NFR ROUND BY ROUND continued from page 15
victory. More importantly she moved to the top of the leaderboard in the average after a costly downed barrel for Lisa Lockhart. Johnson, the nurse practitioner, leads the way with 96.55 seconds on seven runs, followed by Shelley Morgan in 96.65 seconds. “He has been feeling great the last couple of nights,” stated Johnson about Mo. “My run last night, he was still just a little tentative going into the first and was a little concerned about skating around it. I knew he would get me that spot a little bit better tonight and he did into one. That set me up for the rest of the run. “His confidence level is tremendously better this year. Last year the (sponsor) flags were a really big deal for him and was quite scared of them. This year he doesn’t even care one bit. I think our groundwork we did last year helped his confidence this year.” Johnson moved up the standings’ leaderboard to No. 3 with $206,677, while reigning world champion Jordon Briggs took back the No. 1 spot with $232,082. Despite a downed barrel last night Briggs sits sixth in the average. Hailey Kinsel is second in the world with $225,225. Leslie Smalygo was the first clean run on the track tonight coming out as the third gunner and set the bar at 13.64 seconds, to only be bested by Johnson. Sissy Winn, making her first NFR appearance like Smalgyo, rounded out the top three on the night. ROUND 8: SMALYGO TURNS IN FASTEST TIME OF 2022 WRANGLER NFR IN ROUND 8 presented by Teton Ridge the Skiatook, Oklahoma cowgirl turned in the fastest time of the event thus far stopping the clock in 13.41 seconds. “This feels amazing,” said Smalygo of her first career NFR round win. “He (Gus) has exceeded all my expectations of what he could do in here (the Thomas and Mack Arena). He hates small pens, he hates indoors and he has just done so amazing that I can’t even believe it.” Smalygo entered the NFR ranked No. 15 and has moved up to seventh in the world. “I didn’t know we had that in us,” said Smalygo when asked about turning in the fastest time of the event so far. “It felt so messy. It felt like I was going to fall off and I was just trying to keep him off the barrels. We touched each of them, but we made it work. “Last night’s run gave us momentum coming into tonight and being on top of the ground I knew he had a real good chance. If I was going to make a move it was going to be tonight.” Wenda Johnson, who won the seventh round, and was leading the average had a very costly barrel penalty tonight allowing Shelley Morgan to take over the top spot in the average. Morgan has a total time of 110.3 seconds on eight runs. She and rookie Bayleigh Choate are the only two remaining barrel racers who haven’t hit a barrel at this year’s NFR. Hailey Kinsel returned to No. 1 in the standings after picking up a fourth place check on the round. She has $237,350, with reigning world champion Jordon Briggs No. 2 with $232,082. Despite hitting a barrel early in the week Briggs currently sits fourth in the average in a time of 114.92 seconds. Leslie Smalygo was looking for a more speedy event a few years ago having competed in western pleasure the majority of her life, so she turned to barrel racing and she is loving the speed. During the eighth round of the 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo
13.57 seconds, being second out on the ground. Beisel would run next to last and clock the same time. Ironically enough for Pozzi Tonozzi she got the win on rookie night at the NFR, a position she held in 2003. In fact, she was the first WPRA rookie to qualify in the No. 1 spot in the WPRA standings coming into the NFR that year. “I just can’t believe it. I am still in shock,” said Pozzi Tonozzi after her win. “I think Birdie is a great horse but just thought we were tapped out at running sevens. I am still in shock and so excited and so proud.” The last time Pozzi Tonozzi got a victory lap trip at the NFR was in 2011 when she shared the win in the first round aboard the great Duke. Although she has placed in NFR rounds since that, it will be her first time to go to the go-round buckle presentation in 11 years. She said “I feel like such a rookie.” This is Pozzi Tonozzi’s 16th NFR but she remembers that first fondly. “I was laughing because I remember on rookie night, I was first out just like Bayleigh (Choate) was tonight and thought, man I remember that feeling hustling back to my horse, get on and try to go win,” recalled Pozzi Tonozzi. “It seems like it has been a long time ago which it has been like two decades now.” This is Beisel’s second victory lap this year at the Thomas and Mack, having won the fourth round in a time of 13.60 seconds. It has been a roller coaster Finals for Beisel as if she has turned in clean runs she has landed in the money. She is 50-50 in that regard. “I have never hit this many barrels in all my NFRs combined as I have hit this week,” stated Beisel. “He is just working so hard, and I had to ride through my turns. I was exhausted yesterday but I was better rested today which I think definitely helped me stay on top of it tonight. Last night my saddle slipped on the second barrel, and it caused me to have to shift my weight going into the third and that cost us. I made sure it was tight tonight.” After moving to No. 1 in the world after the fifth round, Hailey Kinsel and Sister had a costly barrel penalty in the sixth round as did reigning world champion Jordon Briggs. The $3 million cowgirl Lisa Lockhart finished fourth in a time of 13.64 seconds and continues to lead the average in a total time of 82.35 seconds. Lockhart has moved from No. 14 in the world to No. 3. Kinsel has $225,225, Briggs with $222,289 and Lockhart $182,312. WPRA Rookie Bayleigh Choate hit the pay window for the first time on Rookie Night. Choate made a horse change in round 5 to Hail To Be Famous “Dash” and was first out in the sixth round. She set the pace with a time of 13.63 seconds and finished third in the round good for $17,255. It will be a night she will remember, and she was wearing her signature pink as the “Queen B.” ROUND 7: JOHNSON BACK ON TOP OF LEADERBOARD IN ROUND 7 Wenda Johnson of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, made her second victory lap tonight at the Thomas and Mack on Military night during the 2022 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Teton Ridge. Johnson aboard Stealing Money “Mo” won the first round (13.57 seconds) and returned tonight with a time of 13.60 seconds to take the round
36 WPRA NEWS JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023
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