WCRA PAYS OUT MORE THAN $394,000 TO ATHLETES IN THREE DAYS

WCRA WINTER TIMED EVENT SEMI-FINALS PAYS OUT MORE THAN $394,000 TO ATHLETES IN THREE DAYS

-- Nine athletes from each discipline advance to Royal City Roundup--

More than $394,000 was paid out to timed-event athletes this week as the World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) concluded its Winter Timed Event Semi-Finals at the Lazy E Arena. The three-day event hosted 320 cowboys and cowgirls from around the globe and advanced 54 timed-event athletes to the Royal City Roundup, a one-day, $1 Million Major Rodeo, which will be held February 28 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

The event began with 64 athletes seeded in the preliminary round, with 24 advancing to the progressive round where they met eight contestants seeded from the WCRA Leaderboard. The final round consisted of 16 total athletes (eight from the leaderboard and eight from the progressive round), with the top eight times in the round and the number one from the WCRA Leaderboard in each discipline advancing to the Royal City Roundup. 

Clay Smith and Jade Corkill

Breakaway roper Hope Thompson finds herself going to her fourth straight WCRA $1 million major after taking the number one spot in her pool with a 2.2-second run, while Sloan Anderson won first in her pool with a time of 2.3 seconds.

Minnesota cowboy J.D. Struxness earned the fastest time of the week in steer wrestling when he muscled a steer in 3.6 seconds. Cody Devers topped his bulldogging pool after notching a 4.7-second time. 

 Ivy Conrado Saebens

The Sprint Center will see Ivy Conrado Saebens run barrels in her fourth straight WCRA major, after she clocked a 16.9-second run. Wenda Johnson surged to the top of her pool when the Arizona cowgirl locked in the fastest time of the week in barrel racing with a 16.7-second run.  

Team roping duo Clay Smith and Jade Corkill, who own five world titles between them, will pack their bags for Kansas City after a 5.6-second go, good for the number one spot in Pool A. Cody Snow and Paul Eaves earned the top spot in their pool with a 6.3-second run.

The three-day event concluded with tie-down roping, as the final pool was neck-and-neck, with not a single run over 8.0 seconds. Ryan Thibodeaux went home in the number one spot in his pool after landing the fastest time of the week with a 6.9-second run. Caddo Lewallen is going back to Morrison, Oklahoma with $10,000 after winning his progressive-round pool and the final-round pool, with a 7.7-second run in the finals.

On Saturday, February 29, fans will be able to tune into the Royal City Roundup on a CBS Network broadcast at 12:30 p.m. ET.   ~ WCRA Media