The Barrel Race Is On At The Women's Rodeo World Championship

Texas is not only playing host to the 2020 Wrangler National Finals, they are also the home to a revolutionary new event in women’s rodeo - the Women’s Rodeo World Championship (WRWC).

PBR and WCRA have joined together to produce the premier event, highlighting top notch breakaway roping, barrel racing, and team roping. The WRWC Barrel Race is full of top-notch competition, and we can not wait to watch them compete in November.

How to compete at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship:

Unlike other professional rodeo events, the World Championship event is open to any female athlete over the age of 13 years old. Prospective athletes competing in breakaway roping, barrel racing, team roping are eligible. 

For barrel racing, competitors are able to qualify to compete at the WRWC via two paths: the WCRA leaderboard or the “Open To The World” qualifier rounds.

This means the best, most talented international cowgirls will be competing for a mere 24 slots in Texas. Only the toughest competitors will prevail. 

Once the 24 top athletes from across the world are final, they will compete in Round 1. From Round 1, only the top 12 competitors (based on time) will advance. In Round 2, the top six athlete advance on a two run aggregate. In the championship round, the final athletes will go head to head, clean slate format. 

The WRWC’s progression format shows how athletes have the opportunity to progress to the event:

Check out this video for a more in depth look at how you can compete at the WRWC:

These top 4 barrel racers are already entered:

As the event fast approaches, WCRA and PBR have announced the top 4 WCRA leaderboard athletes automatically advancing to the Women’s Rodeo World Championship. 

The top 4 barrel racers in the WCRA are Hallie Hanssen (South Dakota), Chenessa McGraw (Montana), Maggie Poloncic (Wyoming) and Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi (Texas).

Along with the top 4, sixty additional barrel racers from the WCRA leaderboard are in the first pool group of contestants. Find the complete WCRA leaderboard here.

WCRA Professional Barrel Racing’s Competition Rules:

• The barrel pattern consists of one right turn and 2 left turns, or one left turn and 2 right turns. 
• Barrel Pattern: when the arena allows the pattern should be set as a standard, which is 90 feet between the 1st and 2nd barrel, 105 feet to the 3rd barrel. 
• Breaking the pattern will result in a no time. 
• Running out of order will result in a no time. 
• Athlete must be mounted when they cross the electric timer line to start and stop the competition time. If an athlete is dismounted, for any reason, during the competition run they will receive a no time. 
• The pattern should always be set square with alleyway or entry gate. It should be the same distance to the first barrel whether starting to the right or left barrel. If this cannot be done the WRWC is to be notified.
• Once the barrel pattern is set it is to remain that way throughout the entire rodeo. 
• If the gate is open or closed for the first athlete to run, it will remain that way for the entire rodeo. 

Find the WRWC’s Barrel Racing Competition Rules and the official event ground rules here.

Join us in Texas at the Championship:

The WRWC qualifying rounds will be at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth Texas from November 8-12. The final six athletes/teams from each of the three disciplines will advance to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas from November 13-15.  Team roping will compete on Nov. 13, barrel racing on Nov. 14 and breakaway roping on Nov. 15. The finals will be in conjunction with the 2020 PBR World Finals. 

With $750,000 on the line, cowgirls from across the world will be throwing down their best in the arena dirt. You will not want to miss this history-making event, so join us in Texas this November!

For more information on women’s breakaway roping at the WCRA Women’s Rodeo World Championship, check out Breaking Down Breakaway At The Women’s Rodeo World Championship.