‘Best birthday ever’ for Grant

Dec 16, 2024

‘Best birthday ever’ for Grant

LAS VEGAS – Paisley Grant listened to her mother, and it paid off with a world championship.

The Eddyville, Oregon, barrel racer capped a memorable week at the Junior World Finals on Saturday with a 13.830-second run to win the average in the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas senior barrel racing with a three-run time of 41.853 seconds.

“I’ve always wanted to win something like this, but I never really thought I would be able to,” Grant said. “My mom always told me, ‘Believe it and you can achieve it.’ So before I made my last run that’s all I had on my mind.”

Grant finished second in the first round with a 13.99, and ninth in the second round with a 14.024 to enter the short go leading the average.

Paisley Grant (second from right) stands with her parents and Kelly Kaminski after winning the KK Run for Vegas senior barrel racing championship Saturday.

Abagail Olson of Sheridan, Wyoming, who was fifth, put some pressure on Grant with a 13.184.

Grant and her horse Tanner were up to the challenge.

“Today was just the best,” she said. “All I wanted was to have a clean, smooth run and it was my fastest run of the week. This is a dream come true.”

Tanner, who Grant has been riding “for about four years,” has found a second career as a barrel horse.

“He was actually my dad’s hunting and pack horse for quite a few years,” Grant explained. “And then my mom started him on barrels and he really loved it. Now he’s a barrel horse and he doesn’t have to go up in the mountains again.”

In addition to a championship buckle, a saddle and other prizes, Grant won a 4-Star Horse Trailer. Good timing for the barrel racer who turned 16 on Sunday.

“Best birthday ever!” Grant exclaimed.

Olson finished as the reserve champ with a three-run time of 42.054 seconds.

Pole Bending

Jaden Nowosad had been in this position before.

At last year’s Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas pole bending, the Stephenville, Texas, cowgirl entered the short go sitting second in the average but had her fastest run of the week to win the title in her Junior World Finals debut.

Saturday, Nowosad entered the short go fourth in the average. Once again, though, she saved her best for last.

Nowosad won the short go with a 19.899-second run to vault past three competitors and win her second average championship on Roxy. They finished with a three-run time of 61.506 seconds.

Jaden Nowosad (far right) stands next to Kelly Kaminski after winning the KK Run for Vegas pole bending title.

“We knew we had to be fast in the short go because there were three other girls ahead of us,” she said. “And who knows who could get ahead of us that was behind us. So we went out and we tried as hard as we could and it paid off.”

Nowosad had no doubt Roxy was ready to run in the short go.

“She loves this,” Nowosad said. “She loves listening to the crowd and she loves the pressure, I can feel it. It’s a wonderful feeling when your mare loves to do what she does.”

Alicia Peterson of Sandpoint, Idaho, was the reserve champ with a three-run time of 61.845 seconds.

Junior Barrels

Aubrey Saggione of New Boston, Texas, who was on top of her game all week in Vegas, won the Kelly Kaminski Run for Vegas junior barrel racing with a three-run time of 41.976 seconds.

Saggione was sitting second entering the short go, but had the third-fastest run of the round with a 13.962 to vault into first.

Kayley Whynot of Molalla, Oregon, won the short go with a 13.816 and finished as the reserve champ with a three-run time of 42.156 seconds.