Boisjoli-Meged Claims Rodeo’s Gold with Breakaway Roping Championship

By Ann Bleiker

---

LAS VEGAS (December 6, 2023) – A life lived primarily on the road while chasing rodeo dreams brings out all sorts of emotions.

When they are packed into a head during the 10 rounds of the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Vodka, they can erupt. Such was the case for Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, who clinched her first world championship Wednesday afternoon at the South Point Equestrian Center.

“The second I walked into the arena (to be honored), there was no way the tears weren’t going to be flooding,” said Boisjoli-Meged, who placed in six go-rounds, including at least a share of two round victories, and finished third in the aggregate race.

During her two days at the South Point, the Alberta-born cowgirl now living in Stephenville, Texas, broke a breakaway-finals earnings record with $33,157 to push her season earnings to $197,706 to claim the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle by nearly $40,000 over the runner-up, Hali Williams of Comanche, Texas.

“This is the first year that I’ve dedicated my whole season to just trusting God’s plan, and I feel like that’s all I did all season,” she said. “I think that’s the reason why I’m standing right here.”

That faith came in handy earlier Wednesday. Her husband, 2019 world champion tie-down roper Haven Meged, was at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas when shooters rampaged the campus. Multiple people were killed, and the first performance of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was cancelled.

“It was a mess, but it makes what we’re doing here just feel so small, and it just makes us appreciate it that more,” Boisjoli-Meged said.

The crowd inside the equestrian center appreciated the action that happened. Danielle Lowman of Gilbert, Arizona, tried to bring the house down posting three straight sub-2.0-second runs to win consecutive go-rounds. She was 1.9 in the seventh round and 1.7 in both the eighth and ninth rounds.

Sarah Angelone of Lipan, Texas, followed suit by posting a 1.7-second run on her final calf of the 2023 season. Because she finished higher in the average race – Angelone was fourth – she won the Betty Gayle Cooper Fast-Time Award presented by National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame.

Those 1.7-second runs tied a WNFBR record set originally by Joey Williams in 2021, when the championship was at The Orleans.

“It’s an awesome award, and I’m just blessed to be the one that won it this year,” said Angelone, the sister of 2022 world champion Martha Angelone. “The first day, I wanted to try to catch them all, and then I missed to. Today, I decided to let it all hang out and see how it works.”

Cheyanne McCartney didn’t cash a lot in the go-rounds, but she was solid in her two days of competition. She won the average title with a cumulative time of 32.2 seconds on nine runs, which was worth nearly $14,000. She finished her Las Vegas run with $26,081. She finished the year ninth in the world standings.

“It’s definitely a tough feat to accomplish,” said McCartney of Kingston, Oklahoma. “I was looking a little dim for a moment after I missed my seventh calf, but it just goes to show that if you never give up and just keep focusing on your job, you’ll come out on top sometimes.”

For Boisjoli-Meged, her gold buckle represents the teamwork she has with her horse, No Wimpy Turns, an 8-year-old sorrel mare she calls Onna, which was named Nutrena Horse of the Year presented by AQHA.

“She is really special, and I owe all this to her,” she said. “I rode her at every single rodeo, so this is hers as much as it is mine.”

 

The following are results from the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping, Wednesday, December 6, 2023.

Sixth round: 1. Sarah Angelone, 1.9 seconds, $5,080; 2. Erin Johnson, 2.1, $4,204; 3. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Kelsie Domer and Bradi Good, 2.2, $2,452 each; 6. Cheyanne McCartney, 3.0, $876.

Seventh round: 1. Danielle Lowman, 1.9 seconds, $5,080; 2. Taylor Munsell, 2.1, $4,204; 3. Kendal Pierson, 2.2, $3,328; 4. Bradi Good, 2.4, $2,452; 5. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 2.6, $1,577; 6. (tie) Josie Conner, Sarah Angelone and Martha Angelone, 2.7, $292 each.

Eighth round: 1. Danielle Lowman, 1.7 seconds, $5,080; 2. Martha Angelone, 1.9, $4,024; 3. (tie) Kendal Pierson, Bradi Good and Sarah Angelone, $2,452; 6. Kelsie Domer, 2.1, $876.

Ninth round: 1. Danielle Lowman, 1.7 seconds, $5,080; 2. (tie) Josie Conner and Cheyanne McCartney, 2.1, $3,766 each; 4. (tie) Joey Williams and Hali Williams, 2.3, $2,015 each; 6. Taylor Munsell, 2.7, $876.

Tenth round: 1. Sarah Angelone, 1.7 seconds, $5,080; 2. (tie) Joey Williams and Erin Johnson, 2.1, $3,766 each; 4. (tie) Kendal Pierson and Taylor Munsell, 2.2, $2,105 each; 6. Bradi Good, 2.6, $876.

Average: 1. Cheyanne McCartney, 32.2 seconds on nine runs, $13,866; 2. Bradi Good, 26.2 seconds on eight runs, $11,250; 3. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 27.6, $8,895; 4. Sarah Angelone, 27.9, $6,541; 5. Kelsie Domer, 29.6, $4,709; 6. Taylor Munsell, 26.8 on seven runs, $3,401; 7. Martha Angelone, 27.2, $2,355; 8. Kendal Pierson, 27.3, $1,308; 9. Josie Conner, 37.0; 10. Rickie Fanning, 57.0; 11. Danielle Lowman, 14.1 seconds on six runs; 12. Jackie Crawford, 27.0; 13. Erin Johnson, 12.1 seconds on five runs; 14. Hali Williams, 8.9 seconds on four runs; 15. Joey Williams, 9.7 seconds on four runs.

World Standings: 1. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, $197,706; 2. Hali Williams, $159,541; 3. Martha Angelone, $149,887; 4. Sarah Angelone, $144,241; 5. Taylor Munsell, $135,621; 6. Kelsie Domer, $127,600; 7. Joey Williams, $119,964; 8. Bradi Good, $112,178; 9. Cheyanne McCartney, $111,784; 10. Danielle Lowman, $102,009; 11. Kendal Pierson, $93,963; 12. Jackie Crawford, $89,484; 13. Josie Conner, $85,402; 14. Rickie Fanning, $82,996; 15. Erin Johnson, $76,213.

Boisjoli-Meged Stays Rolling at Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping

By Ann Bleiker

---

LAS VEGAS (December 5, 2023) – The name may have changed just before the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping presented by Tito’s Vodka, but Shelby Boisjoli-Meged is on the same roll she’s carried through the course of the 2023 WPRA ProRodeo season.

The Alberta-born cowgirl now living in Stephenville, Texas, had a single hiccup – a no-time in Round 3 – but otherwise was dominant in placing on the four calves she caught on the first of two days of world championship competition. She shared the second-round victory with Hali Williams and Cheyanne McCartney and won the fifth round to put an exclamation mark on her day.

“It wasn’t exactly the way I wanted it to go, because I wanted to catch 10 calves here, but I’m definitely not complaining,” said Boisjoli-Meged, who earned $16,379 Tuesday and pushed her season earnings to nearly $181,000 with the final five go-rounds of the year ahead of her Wednesday.

“I’m super excited to get into tomorrow. I’m actually very proud of myself that I was able to stay level-headed this year, and I came back after missing a calf and was able to stay after them and not get down.”

With one day remaining, Hali Williams of Comanche, Texas, remains in chase mode and is excelling during the competition at the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas.

She posted the fastest run of the two-day championship with a 1.9-second run to win the fourth go-round, all while still recovering from an incident she suffered two months ago that left her with a tear in her Achilles tendon and other foot injuries. She credited her doctors and Justin Sportsmedicine chiropractor Shawn Scott with giving her the chance to chase the WPRA world championship.

“Right now I’m super emotional,” Hali Williams said “We didn’t know if we were going to be here this week. There for a little bit, I couldn’t walk; I couldn’t do anything with all this extreme pain. Thinking of the longevity of my career, if I roped this week, would it ruin my chances for next year by being out of surgery?

“That 1.9 run was as fast as I’ve thrown in a couple of months. I was just glad I held on, but if you watch it back, I got my knee bent and couldn’t put any weight on that right foot, and I was slowly sliding off.”

She finished with the share of the second-round win and the outright fourth-round buckle, she pocketed $9,254. She trails Boisjoli-Meged in the world standings by about $25,000.

“I try not to think about anything but my start and just let my muscle memory take over after that,” Boisjoli-Meged said. “I set a game plan in the third round and tried to do too much and think through the run, and I missed the calf, so I went back to the original game plan to just stay aggressive.”

That approach worked for her and for Taylor Munsell of Alva, Oklahoma, who won two go-rounds, placed in two others and leads the aggregate race with a five-run cumulative time of 22.0 seconds. Cheyanne McCartney of Kingston, Oklahoma, is second, and reigning world champ Martha Angelone of Stephenville is third in the average.

If Boisjoli-Meged is harboring any pressure from being the top dog, she isn’t showing.

“I have a lot of family here, and I think through my family I’m able to stay grounded,” she said. “I’m just going to try to be around them and soak up this time with them. I think this is just a special time in my life. I don’t think I’ll ever get this time back, so I want to cherish these moments.”

Watch all the action LIVE and FREE on the Wrangler Network.

The following are results from the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping, Tuesday, December 5, 2023.

First round: 1. Taylor Munsell, 2.0 seconds, $5,080; 2. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Martha Angelone, 2.3, $3,766 each; 4. Danielle Lowman, 2.5, $2,450; 5. Cheyanne McCartney, 2.6, $1,677; 6. (tie) Kendal Pierson and Kelsie Domer, 2.8, $438 each.

Second round: 1. (tie) Cheyanne McCartney, Shelby Boisjoli-Meged and Hali Williams, 2.1 seconds, $4,204 each; 4. Jackie Crawford, 2.2, $2,452; 5. Rickie Fanning, 2.7, $1,577; 6. Danielle Lowman, 2.9, $876.

Third round: 1.  Taylor Munsell, 2.0 seconds, $5,080; 2. (tie) Bradi Good, Joey Williams and Sarah Angelone, 2.1 seconds, $3,329 each; 5. Kelsie Domer, 2.2, $1,577; 6. Josie Conner, 2.3, $876.

Fourth round: 1. Hali Williams, 1.9 seconds, $5,080; 2. (tie) Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, Sarah Angelone and Kelsie Domer, 2.1, $3,329; 5. Martha Angelone, 2.2, $1,577; 6. (tie) Taylor Munsell, Jackie Crawford and Cheyanne McCartney, 2.9, $292 each.

Fifth round: 1. Shelby Boisjoli-Meged, 2.0 seconds, $5,080; 2. Josie Conner, 2.2, $4,204; 3. Martha Angelone, 2.8, $3,328; 4. Kendal Pierson, 2.9, $2,452; 5. Taylor Munsell, 12.0, $1,577; 6. (tie) Rickie Fanning and Cheyanne McCartney, 12.2, $438 each.

Overall leaders: 1. Taylor Munsell, 22.0 seconds on five runs; 2. Cheyanne McCartney, 22.4; 3. Martha Angelone, 22.6; 4. Shelby Boisjoli, 8.5 seconds on four runs; 5. Kelsie Domer, 9.9; 6. Jackie Crawford, 12.0; 7. Josie Conner, 20.3; 8. Rickie Fanning 30.6; 9. Hali Williams, 6.6 seconds on three runs; 10. Sarah Angelone, 7.5; 11. Danielle Lowman, 8.8, 12. Bradi Good, 17.3; 13. Kendal Pierson, 17.9; 14. Joey Williams, 2.1 seconds on one run; 15. Erin Johnson, 2.4.

Updated world standings:

	NFBR 2023 – STANDINGS
Pos.	Contestant	Total
1	Shelby Boisjoli	$   182,427.38
2	Hali Williams	$   157,526.89
3	Martha Angelone	$   143,036.36
4	Sarah Angelone	$   122,440.77
5	Kelsie Domer	$   119,561.92
6	Joey Williams	$   114,183.03
7	Taylor Munsell	$   121,986.25
8	Bradi Good	$   100,543.61
9	Cheyanne McCartney	$     93,713.76
10	Jackie Crawford	$     89,484.07
11	Danielle Lowman	$     86,768.56
12	Kendal Pierson	$     84,421.46
13	Rickie Fanning	$     82,996.43
14	Josie Conner	$     81,343.29
15	Erin Johnson	$     68,242.14