Reigning World Champion Shelby Meged reminded the breakaway world what she’s capable of at the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, SD, blowing the doors off with 1.9 and 1.6-second runs to garner more than $30K.
The payday boosted Meged from No. 5 all the way to No. 1 in a densely packed field of Prorodeo breakaway ropers, and she’s going to roll into Las Vegas with $146,664 on her ledger.
Find full Sioux Falls breakaway results here.
“I missed the barrier in Round 1 and was 3.3, and missed it a little again in Round 2 and was a 2.6,” Meged explained. “My dad, who’d come down to help me practice before Sioux Falls, called me before the short go and pretty much told me to quit screwing around and throw on my second swing.”
Meged advanced into the eight-man round on Saturday with some trepidation. She roped in 1.9-seconds to top that round, and unfortunately for her nerves, the rodeo wasn’t over.
“I told Haven after the eight-man, that I wished it was over,” Meged recalled. “I didn’t want to run another calf. We had about an hour before we had to rope again in the four-man round, so I had about an hour to talk myself into throwing on my second swing. I can’t even remember the last time I threw on my second swing.”
Meged had the benefit of roping last in the four-man round, and had to beat out Kelsie Domer’s 2.3-second run for the grand prize of $30,000. It was second swing or nothing.
“I really thought I tore the barrier down, so I didn’t stay at the front [of my saddle], finish the run and try to make it look nice,” Meged said. “I kind of just chucked my rope at the calf. I was truly shocked when I turned around and saw that I got out [of the barrier].”
It turns out that Meged’s version of ‘chucking her rope’ results in a big, open loop that draped across the black calves’ shoulders. She pulled her slack, and it was a done deal. She’d won the Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls for the second year in a row, and given herself a big opportunity at the World Championship following a summer that was littered with “missed opportunities.”
“When things didn’t go my way this summer, I tried to keep my head down, stay levelheaded, work hard and stayed at it. I knew my time would come, and if it didn’t I was going to be grateful to be out there and excited to watch those girls who were winning. You just have to stay ready. Sometimes it’s not your time [to win] and you have to be ready for when it is.”
Between now and Las Vegas, Shelby Meged is focusing on practicing for herself—something she and Haven Meged have trouble doing with pasture full or futurity prospects—and staying on horses that keep her in a gamer mindset. She’ll be hitting up the Kimes Million Dollar Breakaway en route to Vegas before competing in her fifth NFBR.
