WPRA Update

WPRA Announces 2024 Committee and Contract Awards

By Ann Bleiker

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – With the regular season behind us we turn our attention to what could be considered the reward season for not only our Top 15 but also all the personnel and committees that have gone above and beyond this past year.

The WPRA Board of Directors have selected their 2024 committee and contract award winners that have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it all happen and have helped keep the Association alive and well for the past 76 years. Each winner will be officially recognized during the WPRA Star Celebration at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Thursday, December 5.

Honored this year with the Mildred Farris Secretary of the Year Award is longtime WPRA member Cindy Rosser. Rosser was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame as a WPRA Notable in 2022. She joined the Girls Rodeo Association (GRA) now the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) in 1969 and served 20-plus years on the Board of Directors.

She grew up horseback and rodeo has remained her life’s work. A staunch supporter of the WPRA for decades, Rosser has worked every facet of the rodeo business. From a competitor winning the California Circuit Barrel Racing title in 1982 to helping put on some of the biggest rodeos in the PRCA, she had a hand in rodeo production all her life.

In 1986 she was named the PRCA Secretary of the Year, in 1998 she was selected as the NFR Rodeo Secretary and in 2012 was the Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo secretary. In 1995, she was named the Coca-Cola WPRA Woman of the Year, in 2015 she received the Lenora Reimers Heritage Award through the WPRA, in 2019 was honored with the Tad Lucas Award from the National Cowboy Museum and in 2020 won the Donita Barnes Lifetime Achievement award from the PRCA. She can now add the Mildred Farris WPRA Secretary of the Year Award to her list of accomplishments.

Rodeo historian Gail Woerner will be honored with the Lenora Reimers Heritage Award in recognition of her work in preserving the history of the WPRA, specifically regarding barrel racing. In 2023, she finished her book titled The History of Barrel Racing in Professional Rodeo. The book highlights the contributions and history women have made to rodeo, from the early days when there was no standard barrel racing pattern and few standard rules to the big money and big business sport of today. Woerner has long been one of rodeo’s foremost historians, having written hundreds of articles about the sport and books covering everything from roping to riding. Now, she has brough the history of women’s barrel racing into the spotlight it deserves. 

Family has always been a cornerstone of rodeo and the WPRA recognizes the importance of family with their Lifetime Family Heritage Award. This year’s recipient is the Flynn Family – Lynn, Denny and their daughter Ari-Anna. Lynn Manning Flynn qualified for the NFR three times and was the WPRA’s Rookie of the Year in 1979; Denny is a 10-time NFR bull rider and was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2010. Ari-Anna joined the WPRA in 2011 and won the average title in the barrel racing in the Texas Circuit qualifying for her first Ram National Circuit Finals Rodeo. She also competes in breakaway roping.

Rodeo committees have long been the backbone of the rodeo industry and without the hardworking rodeo committees, the industry would have a hard time existing. The WPRA is thankful to every committee who continues to elevate the sport to new levels. With the increase in added money the WPRA has added a new category now called Mega Rodeo of the Year, which includes rodeos adding $25,000 or more. Winning this inaugural award is Rodeo Austin, while the standard awards went to: Price County Rodeo – Phillips, WI (Small Rodeo of the Year), Jerome (ID) Country Fair & Rodeo (Medium Rodeo of the Year) and Killdeer (ND) Mountain Roundup Rodeo (Large Rodeo of the Year).

The WPRA would like to congratulate each of the award recipients as well as those that were nominated for these prestigious awards.

Below is a full list of those that will be recognized by the WPRA in 2024.

Announcer of the Year

Garrett Yerigan

Stock Contractor of the Year

Four Star Rodeo Co. – Jeff Davis

Pro Official of the Year

Scott Fogg

Mildred Farris Secretary of the Year

Cindy Rosser

Small Rodeo of the Year (added money of $5,000 or less)

Price County Rodeo (Phillips, WI)

Medium Rodeo of the Year (added money of $5,001 – $9,999)

Jerome (ID) County Fair and Rodeo

Large Rodeo of the Year (added money over $10,000 – $24,999)

Killdeer (ND) Mountain Roundup Rodeo

Mega Rodeo of the Year (added money over $25,000)

Rodeo Austin

Corporate Partner of the Year                               

Tito’s Handmade Vodka

Media Award

Justin McKee

Lenora Reimers Heritage Award

Gail Woerner

Outstanding Service & Dedication Award

John Gwatney

Distinguished Partnership

4M Equine Ranch – Darrell Martin

Lifetime Family Heritage Award

Flynn Family – Lynn, Denny and Ari-Anna

Outstanding Rodeo Committee Partner

Spanish Fork (Utah) Fiesta Days Rodeo

Breakaway Trailblazer

Fallon County Fair & Rodeo (Baker, MT)

Innovative Media Partner

Miles McNarland

Innovative Rodeo

Calgary Stampede

(719) 447-4627
(719) 447-4631 (fax)