FORT WORTH, Texas – After an electric record-setting season, Martha Angelone (Cross Junction, Virginia) emerged as the supreme competitor for the second consecutive year, delivering a clutch final day of the all-around race in Fort Worth, Texas, to be crowned the 2024 WRWC (Women’s Rodeo World Championship) All-Around World Champion, earning the accompanying $20,000 cash bonus.
Angelone, who began earning points for the title in April 2023, finished the race with more than 8,845 points ahead of the 2020 all-around world champion and 2023 Heeling Champion, Jackie Crawford’s (Stephenville, Texas) 24,135 points.
The Virginia cowgirl is competing in three separate disciplines: team roping heading, team roping heeling, and breakaway roping. Despite not earning a qualified time during round one in the breakaway, Angelone’s 27,380 points on her breakaway leaderboard standings coming into the event was good enough to earn the $5,000 Pro World Championship Bonus. Taylor Munsell (Alva, Oklahoma) earned the top time in the average, notching a 6.88-second time. In the challenger division, Kieley Walz (Ainsworth, Nebraska) held onto the top spot to take the challenger average win, snagging a 7.50-second time.
At the end of the semi-final round, the $5,000 world champion bonus was paid out to athletes in all disciplines from both the PRO Leaderboard and the Challenger Leaderboard. The award was based on the total points earned from the combined Leaderboards. The Athletes who earned the $5,000 bonus in each discipline and division their total earnings are:
DISCIPLINE | ATHLETE | TOTAL |
GBR PRO | RYANN PEDONE | $5,000.00 |
GBR CHL | MAKENZIE MAYES | $11,400.00 |
BAW PRO + ALL AROUND | MARTHA ANGELONE | $26,500.00 |
BAW CHL | KIELEY WALZ | $8,900.00 |
TR HEADING PRO | KAYELEN HELTON | $7,650.00 |
TR HEELING PRO | JIMMI JO MONTERA | $6,400.00 |
TR HEADING CHL | KELSEY PUGMIRE | $9,900.00 |
TR HEELING CHL | ASHTYN PRATZ | $9,900.00 |
Backed by a dominant showing, including the fastest time of the week, 20-year-old Barrel Racer Makenzie Mayes (Scroggins, Texas) was on a mission and surged to the top of the challenger leaderboard courtesy of her win in Round Two and the Semi-Finals Round. Mayes set the arena record for the pattern while sitting atop Chicado Moon. The previous record was set by Laura Mote in 2023 with a 12.967, riding Reliance Ranches Redbull. Mayes defeated Last Chance Qualifier contestant Tibba Smith’s (Hobbs, New Mexico) 39.303-second average time. Even though Madison McCaffity’s (Omaha, Texas) 39.914-second time won the average, Ryann Pedone (Sunset, Texas) earned the Pro World Championship cash bonus.
Team roping Header Kayelen Helton (Stephenville, Texas) and Heeler Jimmi Jo Montera (Duncan, Arizona) garnered enough points at the WRWC to crack into the No. 1 spots in the pro division ahead of Jackie Crawford (Stephenville, Texas) and Anette Stahl (Salt Flat, Texas). In the event, Helton totaled over 10,800, while 2021 World Champion Header Montera racked up another win with over 14,625 points. In the challenger division, 15-year-old Ashtyn Pratz's (La Mesa, New Mexico) and Kelsey Pugmire's (Duncan, Arizona) round-one win catapulted them to the top ranks ahead of Kendall Pierson's (Wardlow, Alabama) and Shelby Scott (Bellevue, Texas), who ended with over 7,500 world points.
The top 12 barrel racers in the current standings will advance to Saturday’s Championship Round in AT&T Stadium, while the top 12 from Thursday’s Showdown Round advance to the Championship Round to compete for the Event Champion title and $60,000. Please view a complete list of advancement, results, and all-around points here.
Fans can watch the action daily on Cowgirl Channel, Cowboy Channel, Cowboy Channel + App, and PBR RidePass on Pluto TV. The landmark event’s Championship Round on May 18 from AT&T Stadium will be featured LIVE on CBS Sports Network during the telecast for the PBR World Finals: Unleash The Beast – Championship.
The 2024 Women’s Rodeo World Championship event is part of the second Women’s Rodeo World Championship Week, the richest women’s-only week of competition in Western sports, held during the 2024 PBR World Finals. The more than week-long schedule of events is slated to pay out $1.145 million in prize money, allowing more than 800 women’s competitors to compete for life-changing payouts.
Since launching in May 2020, the WRWC has awarded more than $3 million in new money to women’s rodeo athletes. For more information about the WRWC, visit wrwc.rodeo.
Photo courtesy of WRWC