Josie Conner is your reigning Breakaway Roping Resistol Rookie of the Year, a title that did not come easy for Conner.
After breaking her foot half way through the season, she watched her name drop in the standings before she was able to make her return in September.
“I had to rodeo the whole time, to the very last week of September to make the finals and it was a struggle, but I was on the bubble,” Conner said.
She was riding the bubble, bouncing inside the Top 20 but outside of the Top 15 as the season neared its end. Conner said she put herself in that position and she was the only one to pull herself out of it. She placed at eight out of her last 10 rodeos of the season.
“I was really ready to get back out there. The Rookie of the Year title was something I really wanted to win,” she said.
When it comes to the support system that helped Conner get it done, it was her parents and her boyfriend, Riley Webb.
“Riley as a competitor, he’s very confident in himself… I think that’s the biggest part of winning, is having confidence in yourself. But he’s got such a huge heart and I think he’s an even better person than he is a competitor because he would do anything for anyone,” she said.
The two make each other better and after cinching their Rookie of the Year titles, Conner has taken the 2023 season by storm. She currently sits No. 8 in the WPRA World Standings with the summer run coming up.