GREAT LAKES CIRCUIT: BREAKAWAY
Two for Two Alli Masters and Hoot Defend Great Lakes Average Title for Repeat Year-End Title
By Tim Gentry A t twenty-one years of age, Alli Masters is already a two- time Great Lakes Circuit Final Breakaway Champion. That’s one Championship for each year the Leon, Iowa, cowgirl has had her WPRA card, and from the looks of things, she’s got a lot more winning in store in the years to come. Aboard SS Hoot Gibson (“Hoot”), a nine-year-old she and her father trained together, Masters has taken checks all over the circuit, including wins at the Pro Rodeos in Aberdeen and Watertown, S.D., and Iron River, Michigan. Still, the defending champ had some work to do coming into the RAM Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo in Louisville, Kentucky. Sitting third in the standings, but well within striking distance, she knew she wasn’t the only cowgirl gunning for the title. “I think first through sixth was separated by less than $2,000, maybe less than $1,500, so it was extremely tight,” said Masters of the standings prior to CFR. “I was shooting for the average, but if the round money came as well, that would work out.” Their first round calf wasn’t the best, but she and Hoot still stopped the clock in 2.8 seconds. Good for a split of third, but not good enough to beat round one winner and then standings leader Jesse Alsup, Fair Grove, Missouri, who pocketed $1,088 to stretch her lead over the field. Round two’s draw was again on the stronger side, but Master’s 3.3-second run was still good enough to take the last check in the round. Meanwhile, Alsup failed to place, bringing Masters a few dollars closer to the leader. It would all come down to her final loop of the season, and when the pressure was on, she and Hoot clocked their best run of the weekend. “For the third round, I knew my calf was about average and stepped
right,” explained Masters. “I was actually kind of happy with it. I kind of like it when they step off to the right, right there. I knew I was coming from behind and I’m the type of person that doesn’t like to finish in second. So, I figured take my first shot and it’s either going to work or it’s not. Luckily it worked out and the Year-End and the Average title worked out, too.” All tallied, Masters and Hoot earned $3,401 to Alsup’s $1,904 to squeak past her by less than $900 for the year-end championship. Defending her title was special enough, but the two-time champ left Louisville with some extra hardware courtesy of her fellow contestants. “That was a tough group of girls, and to end up on top of all of it was pretty rewarding,” said Masters, humbly. “And on top of the whole weekend, Hoot also won Horse of the Year for the circuit, so that was pretty special to win that, too.” Hoot is “the most honest horse” Masters has ever ridden, but their relationship wasn’t love at first sight. After trading for him as a two- year-old from a cousin, she didn’t think he was anything special. Just another prospect that wasn’t going to work out. But her father saw something in him, and knew just how to get it out. “We were training him and I wasn’t the biggest fan of him,” said Masters with a chuckle. “He was just kind of a mediocre horse and then one day my dad got on him and it just clicked. All of a sudden he was leaving hard and dragging his butt. When we first started him I was not super impressed with him and now I’m in love with him. It’s kind of funny he just all of a sudden came on and got it.” This second Circuit Championship also punched her ticket for a return trip to Colorado Springs to rope in the NFR Open next July. After getting blanked there last year in the inaugural edition, Masters Alli Masters has definitely mastered the Great Lakes Circuit breakaway roping winning both the average and year-end title for a return trip to the NFR Open. Masters won the average in a time of 8.6 seconds, outdistancing Kiley Dalchow in 8.9 seconds. Photo by Phillip Kitts
Alli Masters won both the average and year-end titles in the breakaway roping at the Great Lakes Circuit Finals to earn her a spot in the 2023 NFR Open in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Masters will be joined by Jesse Alsup, who finished second in the year-end standings, at the NFR Open at the base of Pikes Peak. Photo by Phillip Kitts
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DECCEMBER 2022
WOMEN’S PRO RODEO NEWS 33
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