The event that Steve Kenyon will remember most from this year’s Wrangler NFR is the barrel racing.
Coming into the National Finals Rodeo, world No. 1 and three-time reigning World Champion Hailey Kinsel lead No. 2 Jordon Briggs by about $11,000 and at the end of the NFR, they were separated by about $15,000, but it was Briggs who left the World Champion. She finished the year with almost $300,000.
After a slow start, Kinsel got a stroke of good luck when three cowgirls in front of her in the Average hit barrels in Round 6 to move her up from No. 6 to No. 3. She also was second in the round and followed it up by winning Round 7 with a time of 13.45 seconds to seemingly retake control of the Gold Buckle race.
Briggs, however, did not give an inch. She was second in Round 7 and also won Rounds 8 and 9. To seal the deal, Briggs made a clean run in Round 10 while Kinsel hit a barrel. Briggs was the only barrel racer to not hit a barrel in 10 days of competition.
“I wish I could bring my horse up here, he just makes me look really good,” Briggs said afterward. “I had the Average in mind, that was a goal, but to be a World Champion is beyond.”
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