Quincy Sullivan had a fruitful week in Fort Worth, winning both the USTRC’s inaugural Total Feeds Open Breakaway on April 25, and the second annual Resistol Rookie Roundup for a grand total of more than $20,000.
The Resistol Rookie Roundup stretched over two days—Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29—across which Sullivan’s gelding, “Cricket,” made consistent runs in the Cowtown Coliseum’s tight confines., allowing Sullivan roped in 2.6 and 3.9 seconds in the first two rounds, advancing her to the four-woman short round on Saturday. As peers in front of her ran into trouble, Sullivan managed to make the winning catch in 3.0 seconds for an aggregate of 9.5 on three head.
“I was planning on going in, knocking the third calf down and doing my best,” Sullivan said. “I planned to back off the barrier a little bit and catch. I didn’t… My loop fell on. Luck was on my side.”
For the 19-year-old college student from Peralta, New Mexico, the consistent success aboard her new partner Cricket, registered as San Joes Ltl Haida (San Joe Playboy x Haida Fina x Haidas Little Pep), makes him more special by the day.
“I’ve used this horse on every run in Fort Worth this week,” Sullivan said. “I haven’t had him for very long; I just stumbled across him. One of my friends had him and I rode him and fell in love. I’ve won more on that horse lately than I have ever won.”
Sullivan is currently attending Clarendon College with plans to head out on the summer ProRodeo trail with friend and fellow NHSFR breakaway talent Kenzie Kelton, but she has some final exams to take care of first.
“My goals for this year are to rodeo a little bit and figure out where I like to go, where my horse works well in the setups and where there is money added,” explained Sullivan, who culminated her high school breakaway career with the 2022 NHSFR Reserve Champion title. “I’m going to rodeo a little bit, and if [Rookie of the Year] presents itself, I’m going to go at it pretty hard.”
Currently, Sullivan is sitting sixth on the Resistol Rookie of the Year standings with $4,805. The current No. 1 rookie is MaryBeth Beam, who boasts $8,007 in earnings.
Sullivan’s background is deeply rooted in roping, with grandpa advancing to the NFR in calf roping, her dad competing in team roping and calf roping, and her mom competing in breakaway. In 2020, Sullivan cemented her own roping trajectory when she became just one of three girls to ever win a National High School Finals Rodeo Championship in team roping.
Truly an all-around competitor, Sullivan also ran in barrel racing at the Rookie Roundup—the only girl to enter two events. While she says barrel racing isn’t her favorite, she’s got a “special” young horse on the trailer that can head and run barrels.
