Pulling out all the stops: INFR breakaway ropers put on a clinic
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Mexican Springs, N.M., cowgirl Bailey Bates throws her loop on Friday night during the third performance of the Indian National Finals Rodeo. Bates won the round with a 1.83-second run, earning her the rodeo’s high call back for tonight’s final performance with a 6.89 aggregate.
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Mexican Springs, N.M., cowgirl Bailey Bates throws her loop on Friday night during the third performance of the Indian National Finals Rodeo. Bates won the round with a 1.83-second run, earning her the rodeo’s high call back for tonight’s final performance with a 6.89 aggregate.
LAS VEGAS, Nev.
The top hands in the breakaway roping pulled out all the stops on Friday night.
They left no stone unturned in the third round of the Indian National Finals Rodeo.
Headed by the 1.83-second run turned in by 2017 world champ Bailey Bates, the fans inside the South Point Equestrian Center were treated to a roping clinic.
“I had one of the slower calves, and I knew that if I got the start I needed, I had to take my shot right there,” Bates said.
The Mexican Springs, New Mexico, cowgirls lead the quartet with a 6.89 aggregate on three heads, followed by Danielle Lowman (7.32), Justine Doka (7.35), and Kadin Jodie (7.46).
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Kadin Jodie, 17, takes one more swing before delivering her throw on Friday night at the 2022 Indian National Finals Rodeo. The Church Rock, N.M., cowgirl turned in a 2.73-second run for sixth place. She heads into the final round in fourth place with a 7.46 aggregate.
Of the four ropers, Jodie is the lone cowgirl seeking her first world title. Before last night, she led the field, including the rodeo’s fast run of 1.76 seconds in the opening round.
“We have a young gun in Kadin Jodie, and everyone was gunning for her,” Bates said. “She lights a fire under you, and that is what happened tonight.”
With a 1.94 run on Friday night, Doka moved up two spots to No. 3 in the race. The Fountain Hills, Arizona, cowgirl didn’t get the draw she wanted, but she made it work.
“That calf was not very good,” she said. “Once he gets about the first quarter of the arena, he starts ducking and diving.
“I knew I had to throw my rope before that happened,” she added. “So, I had to take my first shot. I wasn’t sure if I got out, but you gotta do what you have to do with calves that need a little more attention.”
Lowman posted the round’s third-best time of 2.17 seconds, and she credited all the top ropers around her.
“We’ve been around each other for a long time, and we’re all not going to back down,” Lowman said. “They’re not going to make it easy on me, and I’m not going to make it easy on them, so we’ve all been in this situation before.”
As the defending INFR world champ, Lowman would like to add another world title. Surprisingly, Diné cowgirl Sheila Sells is the only one with multiple breakaway world titles, having won them in 2013 and 2015.
“This is my seventh qualification, and tonight I wanted to stay in there and give myself a shot,” she said. “I want to defend my world title.”
With the top three having reached the rodeo’s top pinnacle spot, Jodie said she likes being part of that conversation, especially at her age.
“I’m only 17, and I’m roping with world champions,” Jodie said. “They’re all veterans, and they’re people that I’ve looked up to. It’s pretty cool that I’m roping with some of the best.”
With how things are going, Jodie expects another clinic in tonight’s final performance.
“A half-second separates the top four, and it’s pretty tight,” she said. “They all rope tough, and nobody is going to back down.”
“I’m going to go in with the same mentality that I had tonight,” Bates said. “Everyone is wanting it, and it’s tough competition.
“We just got to bring our ‘A’ game,” she added.
Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow