Breakaway Roper Making Up Ground After Late Start To 2024 Season

Following a spring decision to kick things into gear, Sarah Angelone has bolted in the WPRA top 15 putting her in position for another trip to the National Breakaway Roping Finals.

Sarah Angelone got a late start on the 2024 season but has certainly made up for it in the last few weeks, climbing into the WPRA top 15. / Jackie Jensen/For WPRA

Now or never. After months of indecision, that’s what Sarah Angelone had to tell herself. 

Back in December, she was one of 15 cowgirls who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Breakaway Roping in Las Vegas, finishing the 2023 season fourth in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association World standings. 

As the 2024 campaign started, Angelone didn’t. 

Then came the moment of clarity – she wanted to make the NFBR again. And she couldn’t do that by staying at home. 

“I honestly had entered eight rodeos before I left for the summer, maybe not even that many,” Angleone said with a laugh. “I have a barn full of horses at home and when I’m at home, I stay at home. I’ll go to some jackpots here and there, but I’m pretty much at home. I didn't rodeo much. I honestly decided to rodeo, kind of maybe in April. So, then I started entering for the summer.”

By the time she loaded up a trailer and hit the road, most of her competitors had already been to 30 or more rodeos and piled up five or even six-figures in earnings, putting Angelone down in the WPRA standings with a long climb ahead. 

Since her return to action, Angelone has inched her way up the standings, culminating with a big run over the last few weeks that has her in position to reach the NFBR event yet again.

When August started, the Lipan, Texas, cowgirl was sitting just outside the top 20. This month she’s already won the breakaway titles in Logan, Utah; Great Falls, Mont.; and Cascade, Mont., while picking up four-figure checks at multiple other rodeos. 

3.8 and Sarah Angelone tops the breakaway roping today in Cheyenne! pic.twitter.com/RfBze2rXkq

— The Cowboy Channel (@Cowboy_Channel) July 23, 2024

In total, the first 16 days of August have been worth nearly $18,500, vaulting Angelone to 12th in the latest WPRA standings with more than $62,000 in prize money this season. Among the top 15, Angelone has the second-lowest rodeo count at 44. Seventh-place Maddy Deerman has only been to 41 events, while 12 of the 15 in the rankings have already made 54 or more stops. 

The secret to her rapid rise? Angelone credits the steady work of her longtime equine partner, Wilma, and an adjusted mental approach. 

When she jumped back into competing, she was aware of her place in the standings and knew the challenge ahead. The pressure of needing to earn money was a weight she struggled to manage early on. 

Lately, the focus has changed. The picture she’s honed in on is much smaller and less grandiose. It’s a shift that has her on the cusp of a second straight trip to Vegas this December. 

“Honestly, I’ve just tried not to think about it too much. The first month I was out here, I felt like I was so behind in the standings. I was trying so hard to make up ground and I felt like it was hurting me more than it was helping me,” Angelone said. “So, I’ve just kind of been not thinking about it the last couple weeks and just trying to go make one run at a time.”