BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
Leslie Smalygo and Hailey Kinsel have separated themselves from the rest of the pack in the barrel racing and have done so in different ways this summer.
Smalygo won a vast majority of her money since the beginning of July, while Kinsel has chipped away with more than a dozen checks.
Regardless of how you slice it, both have won more than $80,000 over the last six weeks.
Meanwhile, on the bubble, Paige Jones, Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, Carlee Otero and Jordon Briggs are all mounting a late-summer push.
No. 1 Leslie Smalygo, $173,982
Smalygo’s win at The Calgary Stampede shot her back to No. 1, however, she has only one check since that $50,000 victory on July 14.
No. 2 Hailey Kinsel, $150,514
The four-time World Champion has made about $70,000 since July 9 and has placed on 15-of-19 runs in that time. Her biggest checks came from a win a second place finish at The Calgary Stampede, a win at the Mountain Valley Stampede (Utah) and a third place finish at Fiesta Days Rodeo (Utah).
No. 3 Emily Beisel, $126,012
Beisel has been to five straight NFRs and is well on her way to a sixth. In the first weekend of August, she won two rodeos and finished second at the Dodge City Roundup (Kansas) to walk away with nearly $11,000. The weekend prior, she won about $6,500 between Nebraska’s Big Rodeo and Deadwood, South Dakota.
No. 4 Kassie Mowry, $111,209
Since July 14, Mowry has only been to five rodeos. She won two of them and pulled checks from two others. No one in the Top 40 in the World has competed at fewer rodeos than Mowry.
No. 5 Lisa Lockhart, $109,553
After a hectic 16th NFR qualification in 2022, Lockhart made sure No. 17 was more comfortable and its more of the same for No. 18. Since July 25, she has won the Sheridan County Fair and Rodeo (Nebraska) and the Richland County Fair and Rodeo (Montana).
No. 6 Ashley Castleberry, $108,024
Castleberry is looking for her first NFR and continued to boost her case by pulling checks from all three rodeos she went to the first weekend in August, that included more than $6,000 for second place at the Mountain Valley Stampede.
No. 7 Wenda Johnson, $105,678
Since Calgary, Johnson has won two checks and they have both been more than $5,500, one for a win in Deadwoon and another for a fourth place finish at the Ogden Pioneer Days (Utah)
No. 8 Tiany Schuster, $98,223
Schuster dominated California Rodeo Salinas in mid-July by winning 3-of-4 rounds to win almost $18,000. She also made the Semifinals in Calgary the week before.
No. 9 Abby Phillips, $95,306
Since a good Cowboy Christmas, Phillips has won just $3,100 since as she tries to hang on for her first NFR qualification.
No. 10 Dona Kay Rule, $91,577
Rule has won more than $40,000 since the beginning of July to move up five spots in the World Standings. She won the Average at the Central Wyoming Fair and Rodeo and the Snake River Stampede (Idaho) in addition to a third place finish at the Utah Days of ’47 Rodeo.
No. 11 Shelley Morgan, $89,334
Morgan took third at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo and won more than $4,000 there to begin August. In July, her biggest check came was $7,257 at the St. Paul Rodeo (Oregon).
No. 12 Halyn Lide, $83,881
Lide won more than $5,000 from both the Ogden Pioneer Days and California Rodeo Salinas between July 21 and 24.
No. 13 Paige Jones, $75,886
Jones got a huge win to bolster her NFR hopes, nabbing $8,025 in Dodge City to go from No. 15 to No. 13 on Aug. 4. She also took second in Douglas County.
No. 14 Andrea Busby, $74,525
Busby had the best weekend of any barrel racer to kickoff August winning $9,216 across three rodeos, most notably a win at That Famous Preston Night Rodeo (Idaho). She went from No. 21 to No. 14 in the World.
No. 15 Sara Winkelman, $71,827
Winkelman won the Larimer County Fair and Rodeo on Aug. 6 to win $3,652. It was her first check since winning $7,959 in Salinas on July 21.
No. 16 Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, $70,512
The reigning World Champion has inched closer to her to an 18th NFR by taking third in the Average in Dodge City and second in Larmier County as August got underway. Pozzi Tonozzi was No. 30 at the beginning of July.
No. 17 Jymmy Kay Cox, $69,717
The trainer and former WPRA President is making her first serious run at the NFR and is within $2,000 of that final spot. She won about $2,500 between two rodeos last weekend. Cox began July at No. 12.
No. 18 Jessica Routier, $65,717
Routier started August by winning Kansas’ Biggest Rodeo and taking third in Douglas County on Aug. 3 and 4. Those two rodeos paid her more than $7,500 and she moved up one spot in the World Standings.
No. 19 Carlee Otero, $64,987
Otero was named The Cowboy Channel’s WPRA Athlete of the Week for winning at least $2,000 at four different rodeos last weekend. She took home her biggest payday, $7,618, for a win at the Douglas County Fair and Rodeo and moved up from No. 23 in the World.
No. 20 Jordon Briggs, $63,247
For someone who has done all her rodeoing since the beginning of June, its remarkable Briggs is in this position. Her biggest boosts along the way came from the Ogden Pioneer Days and St. Paul Rodeo
