The WCJR record books were rewritten, and history was made as The Lazy E Arena and the WCRA DY (WCRA Division Youth) capped off a dominant event with over $389,000 shelled out at the 2024 WCJR (World Championship Junior Rodeo) in Guthrie, Oklahoma.
Bronc Evans dominated the event, raking in nearly $8,000 over the five-day event and going home with the Youth World Champion Heeler and Header, Youth Event Champion Heeler, Men’s All-Around World and Event Champion. Drew Ellen Stewart claimed another title for the WCJR (2023 Pole Bending World Champion) as the Ladies All-Around with 24,457 points.
Two athletes rose to the No. 1 position in a highly competitive Junior World Points race to earn the coveted all-around title. Jake Shelton and Alli Autrey distanced themselves from the Junior Division competition by more than 8,000 points, respectively. Shelton took home more than $4,500 at the event, while Autrey cashed in over $4,300.
Dusky Lynn Hall was unstoppable in Barrel Racing. The 10-year-old clocked the fastest time in the semi-final rounds with 17.108 and the fastest time in the Championship round with 17.097. The youth division athlete not only earned the event champion, but she also took home the Event All-Around title. Entering the event as her first year, she cashed in over $6,680. Arina Dee Haugen claimed the Youth Barrel Racing World Championship with over 5,000 points. In the four disciplines (breakaway roping, pole bending, goat tying, barrel racing), the athlete placed fourth in the round and third place on the all-around leaderboard.
After finishing in 6th place in the semi-final round and entering the final round as the runner-up in world points, Bella Skinner clinched the top spot in the Junior Championship Round with a stunning 17.214 time, securing the Junior Barrel Racing world and event titles and earning over $9,000.
Bareback riding was dominant throughout the championship event, with two riders notching 80+ scores. Brody Dent landed in the Championship Round after placing third in the qualifying rounds and third in the semi-finals. The Oregon Cowboy went into the semi-final round with more than 7,700 points. He distanced himself from Collin Roland by more than 2,000 points. Despite Roland winning the event with an 83.5 score, Dent took home the world title with an equally impressive 79.0 score. He earned 9,340 points at the event and more than $3,500 in earnings.
Jesus Villa Jr. madehistory at the Lazy E Arena, setting an arena record with a monstrous 91.5-point ride. Jesus stayed atop the WCRA DY Leaderboard all season and never gave up his points lead. It was good to win the World and Event Championship and over $5,000.
Jake Holmes blew away the steer wrestling competition. The Kansas native clinched the top spot on the leaderboard, securing his place in the Championship Round. With a commanding lead of 1000 points, he blazed through the competition with a lightning-fast 4.18-second run, claiming the event champion and world title. Holmes walked away with an impressive earning of over $4,000 for the week.
Briana Carr won the Youth Pole Bending World title with 7,534 points, securing the world championship. Carr outperformed All-Around Cowgirl Stewart in a close competition by more than 400 points to claim first place. During the championship round, Carr and Stewart navigated the course, with Ashtyn Mordica ultimately winning with 20.360 seconds, while Carr finished second with 20.5515 seconds. Carr earned over $2,600 as a result of her victory.
Pole Bender Merrick Moyer secured her place in Lazy E and WCRA history by earning an impressive 10,070 points to clinch the world championship in the Junior Division, despite receiving a 5.0-second penalty for a downed pole in the championship round, allowing Kiley Hargrave Batten to claim the top spot with a flawless 19.995-second run in the round.
Myles Nixon made moves in the youth tie-down roping after earning the World Championship and Event Champion titles. Courtesy of his leaderboard position, Nixon was seeded into the championship round after having the No. 1 position. Earning more than $3,000 throughout the week in winnings, he locked in the dual-win after topping the competition in the championship round after an 8.20-second time.
In the Junior Division, Kyan Wilhite maintained a formidable lead atop the Tie-Down World Champion Leaderboard with an impressive 14,523 points. At the same time, his traveling partner Tyler Calhoun secured the event championship. Kyan’s dominant performance throughout the event solidified his defense of the 2023 world title, securing a 2,000-point lead over 2023 all-around cowboy Briar White.
Josey James was the last to rope in the breakaway roping event. The Texan backed into the box with the World Championship already clinched, thanks to her 16,000+ points entering the championship round. James placed in the top four in the two qualifying and semi-final rounds. This is Josey’s second event title (2023 breakaway event champion).
Harley Pryor and Kaydence Tindall were in a race for a piece of the historic payout. Kaydence walked away as the event breakaway champion after a 2.0-second time, while Stewarts earned the World Champion Youth Title with Pryor. Stewart recorded 5,558 points and $2,480 in earnings.
In a historic first for WCJR, Bronc Evans secured an unprecedented five titles. He dominated the competition, amassing over 10,500 points in heading and another 8,400 in healing, nearly doubling the points of the second-place contender. Additionally, Bronc, alongside header Cross Ringelstein, clinched the top spot during the round with the fastest time of the evening, clocking in at 6.57. Evans also takes home the men’s World and Event All-Around championship.
In the Junior Team Roping, Conley Kleinhans defended his second straight heading world championship title. With Brank Cookston at the heels, the pair were the only team to deliver a qualified time in the championship round to land in the world championship and event title. The pair had over 6,000 points each.
A highly competitive saddle bronc race occurred during the Saturday evening event. The 2023 World Champion Saddle Bronc holde, Cooper Lane, won the top position in both long rounds. Going into the championship round, he ranked third in the world standings, trailing the No. 1 Jasper Frost by 1300 points. Cooper prepared in the chute, knowing that winning the event was crucial to securing the world championship title. Cooper did just that and earned the highest-marked ride of the night, thus winning both the world and event titles and a $7,000 payday.
Alli Autrey advanced to the championship round thanks to her position on the Division Youth Leaderboard. She secured the goat-tying world champion title with over 6,100 points ahead of Sadie Patterson. Autrey, who won the Youth World Championship title in 2023, ran the fastest time of the week, clocking in at 6.38 seconds, to also secure the Junior Event Champion title.
Allie Calcote secured the Youth Goat Tying Junior World Championship after holding the lead by a small margin. Allie entered the event in the No. 1 spot in world points behind, with Drew Ellen Stewart edging the world champ position by nearly 400 points going into the final round. Despite earning the 3rd place in the round, she kept Drew Ellen at bay to take home the title. Rianne Tinsley ran the fastest time of the evening with a 6.87-second time.
All results can be found HERE.
