RODEO NEWS

Breakaway Roper Dowell Leads Odessa With a 1.5 Second Run

By Ann Bleiker

The official start of the 2026 rodeo season was back in October, but many consider January the real start to the season with big rodeos kicking off the new calendar year in Odessa, Texas and Denver, Colorado.

The Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas, features both barrel racing and breakaway roping for the WPRA. This year’s rodeo started on January 8 and will conclude on January 17.

Breakaway roper Makenzie Dowell wasted no time in making a statement at this year’s event, stopping the clock in a blistering 1.5 seconds. Dowell’s closest competitor heading into the final week of competition is Karmen Martin in a time of 2.2 seconds. Dowell is from Marlin, Texas, and is competing on her permit. A win in Odessa will easily help her fill her permit that she bought in October. This would be her first big win in ProRodeo.

Another permit holder, Maylee McCrary, is currently leading the barrel race in Odessa with a 14.46 second run. McCray, from Bryson, Texas, was a WPRA Junior member in 2022 and purchased her permit in 2024.

The 120^th National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver got underway on Saturday, Jan. 10 with the non-sanctioned Colorado vs the World with PRCA/WPRA action getting underway on Thursday, Jan. 15. Winning the barrel race on Saturday was a familiar name – Amanda Welsh Wisehart, who qualified for the NFR in 2021 aboard Frenchman Fire Fly “Fire Fly.” Injuries have kept Fire Fly off and on the injury list since then to the point that Wisehart had temporarily retired the gelding. She pulled him out of retirement on New Year’s Eve, running him at 377 Arena in Stephenville and Welsh felt confident enough to give him a go in Denver. Three runs in Denver landed them in the winner’s circle along with her bull riding nephew Hayden Welsh.

While she won’t be competing at the sanctioned National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, she will be one to keep an eye on at future prorodeos this year.

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