Valley Girls Barrel Racing Assoc. Ends Season

WALLA WALLA—The Valley Girls Barrel Racing Association has completed their 56th season of barrel racing in the Walla Walla Valley with the Autumn Daze Race at the Walla Walla County Fairgrounds.

Touchet Valley racers took first place in Overall, Open, Junior, Honors and Novice categories. Dayton racer Shayla Currin was first in the Senior division and Milton-Freewater racer Tamra Morris was first in the Amateur division.

The annual awards dinner will be Nov 12 at Frenchtown Hall. Champions will receive custom-made Corriente Saddles, and remaining contestants in the top standings receive a variety of equine products.

The 2018 season has concluded, but the 2019 season is already underway, says Dayton racer Rosie Gallaher. “Saturday morning is the finals for that year, then the afternoon begins the next year. There’s no breaks–well, maybe three hours–between seasons.”

Different qualifying races are spaced throughout the region, so barrel racing also implies a fair amount of travel. “Barrel racers are pretty dedicated and pretty tough people,” said Gallaher, “We’ve had one member, Carla Lane, qualify for the American, a one-day rodeo in Fort Worth, Tex. She qualified through a barrel race held in Bozeman, Mont.”

Valley Girls has two youth contestants who qualified for the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December. Saige Smith and Paige Gartner, both from Touchet, will make the long trip to compete.

“We have some very tough competitors,” says Gallaher, “Valley Girls itself has been going since 1962. Some of the founding members are still competing members, as well as holding board of director meetings.”

Valley Girls encourages barrel racers of every age, size, and skill level. With 73 members across six divisions, the Valley Girls offer something for every level of barrel racer. “We do accept boys and men in our organization,” says Gallaher. For more information visit vgbra.org or call Sue Ruzicka (509) 522-1137.

OVERALL:

Nichole Kelly 72 Touchet, WA

Karen Gleason 69 Touchet, WA

OPEN:

Nichole Kelly 127 Touchet, WA

Michele Lyons 104 Touchet, WA

Julie Williams 95 Athena, OR

Karen Gleason 92 Touchet, WA

Jamie Thomas 78 Walla Walla, WA

Sue Ruzicka 76 Dixie, WA

Cindy Lane 68 Prescott, WA

Jackie Culham 50 Athena, OR

Courtney Frazier 48 Touchet, WA

Kacey Gartner 47 Touchet, WA

SENIOR:

Shayla Currin 150 Dayton, WA

Alison Cranor 124 Walla Walla, WA

Cody Kessler 100 Milton Freewater, OR

Saige Smith 79 Touchet, WA

Tommie Hoyecki 53 Pomeroy, WA

Taylor Turner 44 Walla Walla, WA

JUNIOR:

Paige Gartner 150 Touchet, WA

Ashley Lane 117 Walla Walla, WA

Payden Henry 105 Touchet, WA

Hadley Heiner 92 Walla Walla, WA

Elsie Mae Mann 90 Dayton, WA

Karlie Fischer 89 Touchet, WA

HONORS:

Judy Poitras 186 Touchet, WA

Adelle Smith 161 Waitsburg, WA

Kim Thompson 146 Walla Walla, WA

Rosie Gallaher 133 Dayton, WA

Judy Frazier 109 Touchet, WA

Debbie Kentch 76 Touchet, WA

AMATEUR:

Tamra Morris 165 Milton Freewater, OR

Michelle Warren 164 Walla Walla, WA

Ashley Lawyer 114 Walla Walla, WA

Julie Maney 110 Helix, OR

Chelsea Mann 104 Dayton, WA

Rhonda Miller 82 Walla Walla, WA

NOVICE HORSE:

Karen Gleason 146 Touchet, WA

Shalya Currin 141 Dayton, WA

Jamie Thomas 101 Walla Walla, WA

BoBo McMillan 95 Walla Walla, WA

Cindy Lane 70 Prescott, WA

Kim Smith 66 Touchet, WA