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Kaley Bass tops over 600 entries to win NBHA state title PDF Print E-mail
Sports
Thursday, 18 June 2009 04:47
By Ken Jackson
Staff Writer
When the Florida High School Rodeo Association state finals start this evening down south in Okeechobee, Davenport’s Kaley Bass, a star of last year’s proceedings at the Silver Spurs Arena, won’t be in attendance.
But, that’s okay, for she got her fill of star power last weekend at the Spurs in the National Barrel Horse Association’s Florida Finals.
Bass, 16, won the open division championship over some 600 entries, clinching it with a 14.125 second run in Sunday’s final round (the “short go”) that was the lowest of the entire competition, which began Thursday. She pocketed $7,590 plus a pair of saddles and bridles for the victory.
Bass, who is home schooled, said she knew the run was special by the crowd’s reaction.
“When I finished my run, I couldn’t hear the time announced because everyone was cheering so loud,” she said. “My dad came running up to me to tell me the time and I was shocked. I didn’t think anybody would run in the ones.
 “People were saying a time in the twos (14.2) would be able to win it, and nobody would run a one. I just knew it felt like a good run, but you’re too focused and out of breath while it’s going on to think about it.”
Another local rider, Kenansville’s Laci Whaley, also finished in the money. She was fifth after the first runs, and went on to bank $1,016.
In barrel racing, a rodeo event exclusively for females, riders navigate a course on horseback around a series of barrels. The course is laid out in a criss-cross pattern, crossing the length of the rodeo ring twice. Riders may touch a barrel, but knocking one over means a five-second penalty, which can spell instant doom considering barrel racing titles are often decided by hundredths of a second.
She was in third place entering Sunday’s final round, so she had to wait out two other riders to make sure her time would hold up.
Bass also competed in and won the youth division, so she made six runs between Thursday and Sunday. On Friday night, she started feeling sick.
“I think I got a cold from going in and out of the building to ride then take care of my horse out back,” she said. “It was really cold in the building and really hot outside. But it didn’t bother me too much.”
Bass’ times steadily dropped during the weekend; her run of 14.4 seconds in the first of three runs in the open division put her in second place. She went 14.3 seconds on Friday, but that dropped her to third, setting the stage for Sunday’s ultra-quick run.
The victory came upon her quarter horse, Wonders Cowboy Dan, who was named the American Quarter Horse Association Girls’ Reserve Horse of the Year for Florida at last year’s FHRSA Finals and backed it up with this year’s victory. Bass finished in first place in barrels in Florida last year, earning her a trip Farmington, New Mexico for the National Finals, where she finished third.
Since she chose not to go through the weekly grind of the near-weekly high school rodeos, where riders earn points to qualify for the state finals, it made this weekend’s tournament a big event for her.
“It was pretty overwhelming, knowing how many riders were there,” she said. “It was pretty exciting, especially the waiting at the end.”
She said that the only real home field advantage of riding at the Silver Spurs Arena was that she could sleep in her own bed through the competition.
“It’s all about how your horse handles the dirt,” she said. “And it depends on the course, sometimes you have to ride a little harder on a longer pattern.”
Bass competed at Nationals last year as a freshman, so her choice not to compete this year still leaves the barn door open to compete the next two years.
“I wanted to go back to Nationals, but going to all the state rodeos got me burned out by the end of the year, and we spent so much on diesel fuel traveling,” she said. “I wanted to go to some bigger barrel races this year.”
Bass said she was able to hand pick some NBHA events this season and rode it them, making some money.
“I don’t know how much, my mom (Tracy Bass) puts them in the bank and keeps the book,” she said. “I ran in a couple of the Georgia-Florida series races year, I only ran in two of the 10 but I still qualified for their finals.”
Tracy Bass said that Kaley has banked about $16,000 rounding the barrels in 2009 alone.
“And the year’s only, what, half over?” Tracy Bass said. “She’s going to make more than we do this year. But days like Sunday make it worth it. I’ve never been as excited as I was during that last round, especially when I glanced at the clock and saw the 14.1. She just loves it, she loves the horses and they work so well as a team.”
While the top teenage rodeo cowpokes will be fighting to get in the top four in their events at the Florida Finals this weekend, Kaley Bass will be taking about a week off before her next event in Perry, Ga. over Independence Day weekend. She will compete against some of the nation’s best barrel racers July 20-25 at the Youth Worlds in Jackson, Miss.
“I’m giving the horses a little a little break, but it won’t be too long,” she said.
In Okeechobee, four athletes from Osceola County will be trying to get into the top four in the state rankings in their events and earn a spot in this year’s National Finals in Farmington July 19-25.
Three are from St. Cloud. Clay Milwee of is third in calf roping and fifth in team roping. Linnea Mitchell is 10th in pole bending and fifth in horse cutting. Chris Atkisson is fourth in horse cutting and 10th in steer wrestling.
Kissimmee’s Sami Sanderson is third in cutting and will earn her third trip to Nationals if she holds her position.
Sanderson’s brother, Caleb, who went to Nationals four times and earned three top-ten finishes in bull riding, claimed a win on the Professional Bull Riders Challenger Tour series last week at the Brent Thurman Memorial in Bastrop, Texas. The $5,000 win, along with a $1,500 check for finishing second at an event in Perryton, Texas, solidified his standing in the top 40 of the PBR money list, ensuring his card for next season if he stays up there.
 

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