PRORODEO Sports News - July 12, 2024

BARREL RACING

PRCA ProRodeo file photo Jeana Day 1974 world champion made six trips to NFR

“I was over whelmed and speechless and for those that know me it takes a lot for me to be speech less. I feel so honored and blessed to be receiving this news. I am just all smiles.” – JEANA DAY

BY ANN BLEIKER Special to ProRodeo Sports News

champion. He was small, just 1,000 pounds, and not expected to have much speed with only cow horse breeding. However, his outstanding heart took him and his jockey to new heights and even led to the formation of one of the WPRA’s most coveted awards — the Horse with the Most Heart Award. Day also served 11 years on the WPRA Board of Directors during a pivotal time in the association’s history, as it took a stand for equal money in barrel racing. She served two different terms (1975-1979 and 1986-1991). She got her math degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and taught high school math in Fargo, Okla., until her retirement in 2023. In 2016, she was the parade grand marshal for the Woodward (Okla.) Elks Rodeo, her hometown rodeo. The WPRA first began inducting members to the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2017 and since that time a total of 14 members (including this year’s class) have been inducted along with two world champion horses (doesn’t include Scamper as he was inducted in 1996).

J eana Day, the 1974 WPRA Barrel Racing World Champion, will be inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in July. Day said she was filled with emotion when she received word of her selection from WPRA president Jimmie Munroe. “I was just blown away when I got the news from Jimmie (Munroe),” stated Day upon learning of her induction. “I was overwhelmed and speechless and for those that know me it takes a lot for me to be speechless. I feel so honored and blessed to be receiving this news. I am just all smiles.” Day qualified for the National Finals Rodeo six times and finished as reserve champion four times before capturing the gold buckle. The Woodward, Okla., native accomplished all of this aboard Poco Excuse, an unlikely WPRA world

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