RODEO NEWS

Nowosad and McCartney Add Lovington Titles to 2025 Accomplishments

By Ted Harbin

By the time she arrived in the southeastern New Mexico community of Lovington to compete, Helen Nowosad had just driven nearly 4,500 miles in less than three weeks.

It didn’t show. She made the fastest run of the rodeo on that Friday, Aug. 8, evening to win the barrel racing title at the Lea County Fair and Rodeo.

“I should have been tired, but I wasn’t,” said Nowosad, originally from Alberta but now living in Stephenville, Texas. “Both of us were feeling really good. We were supposed to be top of the ground, but someone drew out, so we ended up being bottom. I was a little bit concerned because it got pretty deep there, but he just pushed through it and had a great run.”

That’s Down Ta Drive, a 7-year-old buckskin stallion by Dash Ta Fame out of MP Wooden Cowgirl she calls Drifter. She and the stud rounded the cloverleaf pattern in 17.37 seconds to take the title in Lovington, distancing themselves from the field by seven-hundredths of a second. It was a $7,385 payday. They also finished third that week in Hermiston, Oregon, worth another $8,933.

“We were on the road for just over two weeks,” she said, noting their first stop was in Salt Lake City, where she didn’t advance to the championship.

She and Drifter left for Helena, Montana, where she was a walk-up entry and won the rodeo. From there it was off to Rimbey, Alberta, where Nowosad produced the Breeders Elite Incentive event; she also caught a little of the payout. The next trip was to Hermiston before turning the rig toward Lea County.

“At Hermiston, we ran a (16.98), which is the fastest me and this stud have been on a standard,” she said. “He’s only been running barrels for a year and a half. He didn’t get to futurity or any of that stuff. We just basically went from winning some of these local jackpots around Stephenville and decided to start rodeoing. He loves it, so we’re just doing that.”

Nowosad left her ranch in eastern Alberta in 2021 to move to Texas, where she worked at the Brazos Valley Stallion Station. She had no time to ride much less compete. Once the workload leveled out, she and Drifter began connecting and focusing on making barrel runs.

“He just picked it up and did so good,” she said. “It’s just been a great experience.”

With a stallion that has a hunger for the road and the pattern, she understands the opportunities that might be out there.

“We would love to run at the NFR, and every run is just preparing us for it,” Nowosad said. “We’ll just take each run as it comes. He keeps proving to me that the more we go, the closer we’re getting to the NFR. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take, but we’re going to just follow the Lord’s path.”

The path for Cheyanne McCartney is leading back to the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Handmade Vodka. After missing the championship a year ago, the Louisiana-raised cowgirl is on a mission this year, and her victory in Lovington is helping to pave the way. She placed in both rounds and edged Hali Williams for the aggregate victory by one-tenth of a second to snag $7,087. That helped push McCartney past the $100,000 mark in season earnings.

McCartney and Williams kickstarted the four-performance rodeo with matching 2.3-second runs during the opening day’s first round, where they tied for second. McCartney then stopped the clock in 2.7 seconds in the first performance and finished fifth in the second round.

Now living in Kingston, Oklahoma, McCartney ended her week placing at other stops along the way, collecting more than $13,000 in the process.

It’s a busy time of year, with every cowgirl in the WPRA making a final push to secure their spots for Las Vegas, and the competition is heating up like August in the New Mexico desert.

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