Sawyer Gilbert snagged her finals calf in 1.8 seconds on March 28, 2026, to win her second Rodeo Austin title and pocket $18,987.
After a slow start to the Texas Swing — forgoing Fort Worth and not being quite rodeo sharp at San Antonio — the 24-year-old Buffalo, South Dakota, cowgirl started heating things back up.
“I’m really glad it decided to happen during the Texas Swing,” Gilbert said. “That definitely sets your season up for success.”
Coming into the Austin Playoffs tied for fourth with a 1.9-second run, she felt good. After roping her playoff round calf in 3.2 seconds, she barely secured her spot in the eight-man finals, but she didn’t let it affect her approach — she had momentum.
“Every winning streak begins as a placing streak, and a placing streak begins whenever you place once,” Gilbert said.
The win was a long time coming for Gilbert after the last few years. At the end of 2022, Gilbert broke her neck and, as a result, cut back on rodeoing, almost altogether.
“I did not want a gold buckle, did not care for one,” Gilbert said. “It got to a point where I didn’t need breakaway.”
She spent the time away focusing on family, her business and tuning in on the finer details. She also had to practically relearn how to rope after losing feeling in her hands due to the injury.
“Here in the last two, three, four months maybe, I can feel my hands again,” she said. “The last couple of years, I haven’t been able to.”
But she didn’t let it keep her down. In fact, she said she wouldn’t change it and that it was God’s plan.
“It taught me a lot of patience,” Gilbert said. “The girl that won the World in 2021, me today, I don’t think she could pack my rope bag compared to what I can do now.”
Last summer, she went to some smaller rodeos, found her love for the sport again and seasoned Dillon Mundorf’s mare “Cami”, registered BJ Foxy Miss, that she was aboard during her win at Rodeo Austin.
“That mare actually got fairly seasoned, and we were getting along really good,” Gilbert said. “I knew it was only a matter of time before we started clicking.”
Due to the neck injury, Gilbert is going to have to be more conservative with how much she enters throughout the year, but making the NFBR is still a goal on that list.
“I’m not the gung-ho person that’s like, ‘oh yeah, they’ll call my name everywhere’,” she said. “I’m going to try and fly more this year… I do not have a problem hitting that turn-out button.”
