GUNNISON, Colo. – Nicole Hadley had some things to prove.
She arrived in this community a day before she was scheduled to rope, because she has an investigative mind. She wanted to see what the cattle looked like and prepare her mind for her breakaway roping run during Saturday’s final performance of the Cattlemen’s Days PRCA Rodeo.
That homework paid off, and Hadley stopped the clock in 1.8 seconds to share the victory at the first breakaway roping at Gunnison’s rodeo during it’s 124th celebration.
“I wanted to get a feel for Gunnison since I’ve probably passed through her when I was a little tyke,” said Hadley of Goodland, Kansas. “I got to know the town of Gunnison, and we went downtown and went to an ice cream truck and at Mario’s Pizza.”
She knew that Brighton Bauman of Burleson, Texas, had set the standard during her run Thursday morning, so Hadley threw caution to the wind and went for it. By sharing the title, Bauman and Hadley each collected $2,869, which will move the Kansas cowgirl into first place in the Mountain States Circuit standings.
That’s saying something for a cowgirl that was teaching high school agriculture classes just a few months ago.
“I actually didn’t start ProRodeoing until last year, so that was my rookie year,” she said. “I’ve been working on my set of horses I had … four really strong horses that are finished and ready to go. I decided I needed to chase my dreams, and I can always go back to teach when I was done.”
She’s hoping that’s not anytime soon, but competing at the professional level of rodeo is hard. It wasn’t even available to breakaway ropers until the last few years. The first National Finals Breakaway Roping took place in 2020, and Hadley has some work to do if she ever wants to make it to that mountaintop.
“My family has a row-crop farming operation, so they raise corn and wheat,” Hadley said. “I got started in rodeo because my dad grew up actually on the western side of Colorado in Cedaredge, so I was definitely very odd for our area.”
She attended Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado, then transferred to the University of Wyoming. At both schools, she was an all-around cowgirl, competing in multiple events. That education helped her transition into a life on the rodeo trail, and her goal for the 2024 campaign is to earn enough money to finish the year among the top 40 in the world standings; by doing that, she will qualify to compete in lucrative winter rodeos in Texas, like Fort Worth, San Antonio and Houston.
Once she saw the calf she had drawn for Saturday’s run, Hadley made a gameplan.
“The calf was strong and was going to allow me to have that opportunity to make a really fast run on him,” she said. “About two hours before I roped, I just decided I was going to go fast, so I chose the fast horse, and everything worked in my favor. I’m super thankful for that.”
That mount is Ginger, a 19-year-old sorrel mare she’s had for 12 years.
“She’s been to the high school finals and the college finals, and now to the ProRodeos,” Hadley said. “She’s not the one I usually call on, but she’s definitely a horse I like to use on a faster setup where the scores are not long and the calves are pretty strong.
“I watched (Friday) night, and I just had a gut feeling that she was the one I needed to ride, and I just went with it.”
That gut feeling has her riding high on a Saturday night.
Cattlemen’s Days
Gunnison, Colo.
July 11-13
All-around cowboy: Paden Bray, $1,360 in team roping and tie-down roping.
Bareback riding: 1. Rocker Steiner, 87 points on United Pro Rodeo’s Big Apple, $3,199; 2. Tilden Hooper, 85, $2,452; 3. Waylon Bourgeois, 84, $1,812; 4. Keenan Hayes, 82.5, $1,173; 6. Drake Amundson, 82, $746; 6. (tie) Cole Franks, Gavin French and Isaac Ingram, 81.5, $426 each.
Steer wrestling: 1. Andrew Galloway, 4.6 seconds, $1,773; 2. Jacob Wang, 4.7, $1,542; 3. Jace Logan, 5.2, $1,310; 4. (tie) Garrett Guillot and Cimarron Thompson, 5.4, $964 each; 6. Seth Peterson, 5.7, $617; 6. Hadley Jackson, 6.1, $385; 7. Tate Kvistad, 7.6, $154.
Team roping: 1. Jr. Dees/J.C. Flake, 5.1 seconds, $2,433; 2. (tie) Gary Haynes/Bryton Scheller and Brenten Hall/Kaden Profili, 5.5, $2,004 each; 4. Austin Crist/J.W. Borrego, 5.8, $1,574; 5. (tie) Clay Ullery/Tyce McLeod and Wyatt Bray/Paden Bray, 6.0, $1,360 each; 7. Corey Whinnery/Robert Murphy, 6.2, $1,145; 8. Brodi Jones/Arye Espenscheid, 6.6, $1,002; 9. Kory Bramwell/Calvin Brevik, 9.5, $859; 10. Blake Hirdes/Mike George, 10.6, $572.
Breakaway roping: 1. (tie) Brighton Bauman and Nicole Hadley, 1.8 seconds, $2,869 each; 3. Nicole Baggarley, 1.9, $2,171; 4. (tie) Tiffany Schieck and Macy Young, 2.2, $1,706 each; 46. (tie) Kristy Stewart, Jordan Hollabaugh and Shayla Smith, 2.3, $827 each; 9. Brooke Ladner, 2.4, $543; 10. (tie) Beau Peterson and Jade Mitchell, 2.5, $427 each; 12. Kassidy Dennison, 2.6, $310.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. (tie) Tegan Smith, on United Pro Rodeo’s Ropin Dreams, and Bailey Small, on Rafter G Rodeo’s Blue Velvet, 86.5 points, $2,132 each; 3. Coleman Shallbetter, 86, $1,368; 4. (tie) Jake Finlay and Gus Galliard, 85, $724 each; 6. Isaac Richard, 82, $402; 7. Skinny Parsons, 81.5, $322; 8. (tie) Weston Patterson and Caleb Brangham, 79.5, $121.
Tie-down roping: 1. (tie) Ryan Jarrett and Brice Ingo, 8.7 seconds, $2,546 each; 3. (tie) Landyn Duncan and J.D. McCuistion, 9.3, $1,836 each; 5. (tie) Jayden Broussard and Riley Pruitt, 9.4, $1,125 each; 7. Hudson Wallace, 10.6, $592; 8. Bart Brunson, 11.1, $237.
Barrel racing: 1. Jana Bean, 17.53 seconds, $2,679; 2. Fallon Taylor, 17.74, $2,277; 3. (tie) Tara Seaton and Shy-Anne Jarrett, 17.83, $1,741; 5. Rachel Huerkamp, 17.84, $1,340; 6. Sara Redden, 17.89, $938; 7. (tie) Lindsay McCuiston and Alex Odle, 17.96, $603; 9. Megan Albrecht, 17.98, $469; 10. (tie) Sarah Kieckhefer and Taylour Latham, 18.01, $368; 12. Kelly Yates, 18.06, $268.
Bull riding: 1. Luke Mackey, 87 points on Harper Morgan’s Can’t Get It Right, $4,531; 2. Brody Hasenack, 83.5, $3,738; 3. Vinell Mariano, 80, $3,059; no other qualified rides.