**Office Closure Notice**

The WPRA office will be closed Monday, February 16th for Presidents' Day. You may still contact the office via email and fax and we will respond when the office reopens on Tuesday, February 17.



Because of the holiday, rodeo payouts will be delayed.

NFR Open Qualifiers - Updated

*Last week there was an error on our list in the Wilderness Circuit breakaway roping. To be eligible for year-end titles and awards a contestant must compete in their Circuit Finals. Josie Conner nor Hali Williams competed in the Wilderness Circuit Finals, so the year-end champion and the one qualifying for the NFR Open is Braylee Shepherd. We apologize for the error.

The following have earned the right to compete at the 2026 NFR Open - July 14-18 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Barrel Racing

Badlands: Lisa Lockhart (year-end)/Molly Otto (avg)

California: Hayle Gibson-Stillwell (year-end)/Ann McGilchrist (avg)

Columbia River: Megan McLeod Sprague (year-end)/Hailey Garrison (avg)

First Frontier: Willie Horzepa (year-end & avg)/Karissa Landis (2nd year-end)

Great Lakes: Austyn Tobey (year-end & avg)/Kristen Meyer (2nd year-end)

Maple Leaf: Jayden Wilson (year-end)/Blake Molle (avg)

Montana: Ashley Day (year-end)/Taylor Gardner (avg)

Mountain States: Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi (year-end)/Karson Bradley Berger (avg)

Prairie: Emily Beisel (year-end)/Kara Kreder (avg)

Southeastern: Margo Crowther (year-end & avg)/Kristen Hanchey (2nd year-end)

Texas: Alyssa Urbanek-Wade (year-end)/Jordan Driver (avg)

Turquoise: Katelyn Scott (year-end & avg)/Tara Seaton (2nd year-end)

Wilderness: Carlee Otero (year-end)/Caitlyn White (avg)

Breakaway Roping

Badlands: Sloan Anderson (year-end)/Taylor Engesser (avg)

California: Suzanne Williams (year-end & avg)/Kaitlyn Anderson (2nd year-end)

Columbia River: Bailey Patterson (year-end)/Millie Greenwood (avg)

First Frontier: Georgia Warner (year-end & avg)/Emily Fabian (2nd year-end)

Great Lakes: Alli Masters (year-end)/Clare Burcalow (avg)

Maple Leaf: Bradi Whiteside (year-end)/Jenna Dallyn (avg)

Montana: Joey Williams (year-end & avg)/Jacey Fortier (2nd year-end)

Mountain States: Haiden Thompson (year-end)/Taya McAdow (avg)

Prairie: Taylor Munsell (year-end)/Jenna Adams (avg)

Southeastern: Tiffany Schieck (year-end)/Ashten Denney (avg)

Texas: Martha Angelone (year-end & avg)/Britta Strain (2nd year-end)

Turquoise: Justin Doka (year-end & avg)/Macy Young (2nd year-end)

*Wilderness: Braylee Shepherd (year-end)/Carly Bedke (avg)

Attention Members

WPRA 2026 Election Ballots Due Back Feb. 23

Election ballots have been sent out. Election ballots are due back to the election vendor by Monday, February 23, 2026, by 5pm MT. Please reference rule 3.3.2. in the 2026 WPRA Rule Book.

Those on the ballot include:

Badlands:

Nicole Bice

California:

Sheena Robbins

Great Lakes:

Melora Potter

Prairie:

Cindy Gillespie

Turquoise:

Jenna Duhon

Betsy Lamaire

Central Region Roping:

Christi Braudrick

East Region Roping:

Danni Clover

Election ballots will be certified by the election vendor on Wednesday, February 25, 2026, by end of day. Candidates will be notified the following business day. Please reference rule 3.4.1. in the 2026 WPRA Rule Book.

To learn more about each of these nominees click the button below:

Resistol Rookie Roundup - March 20-21

For the fifth consecutive year, Resistol, in partnership with The Cowboy Channel, the leading network for Western sports, owned by Teton Ridge, will host the Resistol Rookie Roundup at the iconic Fort Worth Stockyard Coliseum. The dates have been moved up a month as the 2026 event will take place March 20-21.

Sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA), 10 first year card holders in each event will compete for over a $100,000 purse. The Cowboy Channel will produce and broadcast the event. Another change for 2026 will be a straight two-head aggregate format with the leader after both days crowned the champion.  

The Cowboy Channel will also produce a special roundtable series, where participants in each event will sit down with past Resistol Rookie of the Year winners. These discussions, combined with media training and mentoring sessions, will equip contestants with valuable insights for their careers ahead. This will take place March 19 beginning at 9 a.m.

“Each year, the rookie class continues to impress. They come in prepared and willing to learn. They understand the importance of this weekend as they learn about sponsorships, interviewing skills, social media management and more. We want each rookie to leave prepared for their rodeo career ahead because these are the names we will continue to hear,” said Resistol Brand Director Mary Jane Carpenter.

Money won at the Resistol Rookie Roundup, presented by The Cowboy Channel, will count towards the Resistol Rookie standings but will not be credited towards the world standings for a Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualification.

Ground Resource Page

The WPRA Board has officially launched its second informational ground video featuring content from ground expert Jake Van and the new ground resources page on the WPRA website for committees and members to access our ground video library, informational articles, and other ground resources.

The WPRA is very passionate about improving ground, and we hope to continue to build our ground video library and resources each year to help provide educational content that can be used by all our committees to improve ground across the country.

The WPRA Board welcomes your feedback, questions, concerns, and ideas. Please reach out to your Circuit Director, and your emails will be shared with the Board.

Please see the link below to view the entire second video as well as the new ground resources page on wpra.com to select which chapters of the video you wish to view and check out the other available resources.

Friendly Reminder - Official Results & Standings

Members please note when looking up results from a rodeo for payout the ones listed on ProRodeo.com are often not accurate and not official. For official payout on WPRA events one is encouraged to reference WPRA.com for accurate information that will be reflected in the standings.

Rule Spotlight

Assisting a WPRA Contestant into Arena

9.2.13.3. Anyone helping a WPRA contestant into the arena must adhere to the rules of the WPRA including but not limited to; dress code, not obstructing alleyway, and conduct restrictions for professional behavior. Member will be subject to a fine of $100.00.

2026 Circuit Resident/Non-Resident Count

The resident/non-resident circuit counts for all the circuits for barrel racing and breakaway roping are now listed at www.wpra.com. If your goal is to compete at your circuit finals be sure you know the number of rodeos you must compete in to be qualified if you finish in the top 12 of your respective circuit standings.