Shelley Morgan, Texas Circuit Finals Average Winner

Shelley Morgan didn't have any expectations when she made the trek from her home in Eustace, Texas to Waco, Texas for the Ram Texas Circuit Finals rodeo, Jan. 6-7.

Entering the Circuit Finals ranked eighth and riding a relative newcomer to the professional rank, she was just hoping to season her horse Will Merada a little bit more.

"I was so excited and surprised when we won the average title," said Morgan who is sponsored by Equithrive and the Muffler Shop in Canton, Texas. "Going in I wasn't even thinking about the average title and just wanted to go in there and let my horse do what he does best. He usually does better if I don't get in his way, so it is usually best that I don't think about those types of things."

Morgan admits that she was surprised in how well her 9-year old gelding handled the situation and is excited about the future.

"He really surprised me," Morgan said. "He just seemed to get better and better with each run. Going into the final round, I knew I was third in the average and had a shot at the title. As it turned out I was the last one out in the final round and had watched a couple of girls go out of the average with knocked down barrels. There were also some nice runs so I just told myself right before I went into the arena to let him do his job.

"I caught a glimpse of the clock as I left the arena and I thought 'Oh my gosh.' I knew with that time we had won the average and it was so amazing."

Morgan finished out of the money in the first round with a time of 16.39 seconds. Jana Bean captured the opening round in a time of 16.23 seconds. Morgan and Radar would improve on their time for the second round finishing third in 16.29, behind Annesa Self and Kenna Squires who tied for the win with times of 16.20.

Radar would live up to his name, which was given to him by Morgan's husband Rex because he just knew he was going to be fast. Radar stopped the clock in the third and final round in a rodeo best 16.12 seconds to outdistance Robyn Herring with a 16.16-second run for the round victory and average title. Morgan won the average with a three run time of 48.80 seconds to Herring's 48.87.

Brittany Pozzi entered the Circuit Finals with a $5,000 lead over the rest of the field and although she only placed fourth in the third round it was enough to give her the year-end title. So when the dust had settled Morgan and Pozzi punched their ticket to the Ram National Circuit Finals in Oklahoma City the end of March.

For more information on the Ram Texas Circuit Finals Rodeo be sure to get your copy of the February issue of the Women's Pro Rodeo News.