19-Year-Old Hali Williams Sitting First

In a blink of an eye, 19-year-old Hali Williams won $50,000 at the 2023 RodeoHouston. She backed into the box, nodded, and in 3.6 seconds won her first gold buckle.

This win held her place as number one in the breakaway in the Women's Professional Rodeo Association standings. She came in number one with $33,750 earned in 2023, but this win (and her $3,000 check from the Super Series II) brings her new total to $87,500.

She called this week a "fairytale" in her latest Instagram post.

Last year, Hali competed in her rookie year. She has started this year with quite a bang!

In a post of admiration, breakaway veteran, Jackie Hobbs-Crawford, writes, "Something that has impressed me for years about Hali was not that her dad was an 8 time World Champ, or that she has an amazing family support system, but the things that this girl has done to evolve herself.

"If you sit back and watch over the years and knew what to look for you could see all the little extra things she was willing to do while a lot of other kids weren’t. If you’ve been watching you will see that while a lot of other kids at that young age are too busy trying not to miss out on the things that don’t pave the way to being a champion, Hali is always right there doing the things that aren’t always easy.

You’ll always find her at the rodeos even days early to watch the start and get a feel of the rodeo, you’ll see her writing her own list on the calves, you’ll catch her at her trailer making reps on that Speed trainer, and riding her horses tracking out calves to get them under the lights. Her horsemanship has come a long ways since she decided to become a full time breakaway roper, and the time spent to build her horse herd is impressive.

She is grounded, mature, doesn’t care what everybody else is doing, and confident in her path. I have seen little things in the way that she carries and represents herself, that big smile on tv even when things don’t go her way means a lot to our sport. I’ve never caught her throwing a fit, taking frustration out on her horses, speaking bad to her parents, or doing anything that would shed a bad light on our industry. Hats off to you Hali Williams!"

Hali is back on the rodeo road, already off to the next one! We are excited to watch the Texas native.