Martha Angelone and her trusted gelding, Jesse James, claimed the win at WCRA Rodeo Corpus Christi, earning $24,000 over three days and getting a few reps on the stoplight barrier system ahead of Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo on May 16.
In addition to the $24,000 she won at Corpus Christi, Angelone earned a $25,000 VRQ Bonus Champion check. It marked her third time receiving the award, which is essentially a year-end award based on the number of VRQ points a competitor earns.
WCRA Rodeo Corpus Christi recap
Angelone won Round 1 with a 3.49-second run, securing her spot in the Showtime Round. She received a no-time in Round 2 but rebounded with a 3.02-second run in the Showdown Round to advance to the Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo Round.
“The lights are different,” Angelone said. “You have to have a lot of finesse and timing. I struggled the first day—I got in the box too late and didn’t have time to back up and hit the corner before the gates opened. This is only my second time doing it. I tried the lights at the Fort Worth Kid Rock Qualifier. I was on a Kid Rock team last year but didn’t get to rope because my teammate missed.”
Another solid performance in the Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo Round secured Angelone the Corpus Christi championship. Since she had already been selected for Fred Whitfield’s “Sledgehammers” team at Kid Rock, her peers Kieley Walz and Taylor Raupe joined the WCRA’s Free Riders team.
“The talent we had at Corpus was across the board,” Angelone said. “We had everything from young girls who win every junior roping to veterans like Jackie [Crawford], NFBR qualifiers like TiAda, and top college girls. You couldn’t go out there and back off.”
As Angelone looks ahead to a week at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship in Fort Worth and Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo in Arlington, she’s still deciding which horse to ride at each event.
“I’m not sure who I’m riding at Kid Rock yet,” Angelone said. “It’ll depend on the setup and whether I make the Women’s Rodeo Finals the next day, because then I’ll want to save Jesse.”
