championship saturday: poles and barrels

LAS VEGAS – This wasn’t the first Junior World Finals for Ashlyn McCleve.

It was, however, the first time the cowgirl from Gilbert, Arizona, had qualified for the short go-round of the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas senior barrel racing. So McCleve and her horse, Jewels, made the most of the opportunity.

Saturday, McCleve put together three clean runs inside the Wrangler Rodeo Arena to win the average with a time of 42.218 seconds.

“I just had to make good runs,” she said. “I trust my horse, so I just went in there and let her work and make clean runs. I’ve been trying to get qualified for the finals for a few years and this is the first year I got qualified, so it feels good to win it.”

The freshman at Central Arizona College and Jewels now have three world titles to their credit after winning two Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas pole bending championships.

“I know this arena is small so I have to keep my horse hustling through the pattern,” McCleve said. “My plan was just to make her go and get to her spots, and keep the barrels standing.”

Obviously, the plan worked.

McCleve won the first go with a 14.158-second run and finished third in the second go with a 13.987. She entered the short go leading the average with a two-run time of 28.055 seconds. In the short go she matched her first-round time to finish ahead of reserve champ Emily Ward of Miles, Texas, who had a 42.418.

Jordynn Knight of Roosevelt, Utah, won the short go with a 13.965.

McCleve’s three-run time of 42.218 seconds was the fastest of the week overall, meaning she has a brand-new trailer to haul back to Arizona.

“I had been struggling so it feels good to get the trailer,” she said with a smile. “I’m proud of my horse and I couldn’t have done it without my family and all of my sponsors.”

Pole Bending

Competing in her first Junior World Finals, Jaden Nowosad made the most of it.

The 17-year-old from Stephenville, Texas, had her fastest run of the week – stopping the timer in 19.979 seconds – to win the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas pole bending average with a three-run time of 60.282 seconds. Nowosad also won the short go.

“My mare and I love pole bending so much and it’s been a blessing to get to do this,” Nowasad said of Roxy, her 7-year-old pole bending horse. “We’re so grateful for it.”

Nowosad entered the short go trailing Carsyn Holbrook of Cibolo, Texas. But when Holbrook knocked down a pole for the first time all week Nowosad took advantage, even if she had a moment of doubt.

“I was right after Carsyn and I heard that she tipped a pole and I started to get in my head just a little bit,” Nowosad admitted. “But then I was like, whatever happens happens. I’m just here to have some fun and go and do what we love.”

The 5-second penalty dropped Holbrook to No. 10 in the average.

Tatum White of Montgomery, Texas, was the reserve champ with a three-run time of 61.642 seconds.

The day belonged to Nowasad, though. After placing second in the first go and third in the second go she and Roxy put it all together Saturday.

“I knew that she could do it,” Nowosad said. “We raise horses and she was one that my parents didn’t have time for so I took her over when she was three and did all of the training.

“We just came out here to have fun, and we sure did have a lot of fun.”

Junior Barrel Racing

Savannah Toon defended her world title in the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas junior barrel racing by the slimmest of margins.

The Smithville, Oklahoma, cowgirl finished with a three-run time of 42.643 seconds; Kaylee Eiter of Hayden, Idaho, was second with a 42.644.

Toon said it took a minute before she realized she was the world champion.

“It was nerve-wracking,” she said. “I didn’t think I won it after my run.”

Eiter, who entered the short go fourth in the average, put pressure on the field with the first run of the short go. Her 14.091-second run moved her to the top of the average, a spot she held until Toon and Mo finished with a 14.125 on the third-to-final run of the day.

Scarlett Meuth, a 6-year-old from Blue Ridge, Texas, won the short go with a 13.868, the second-fastest time of the week in the junior division.