Junior girls barrel racer Hannah McCannell didn’t get the result she hoped for at the 2015 Canadian Cowboys Association (CCA) Finals Rodeo in Regina’s Brandt Centre last week, but the young athlete is still excited about the great season she enjoyed.
“I feel good about it,” said Hannah, 14. “It was mostly my horse (Nike) that got me there, so I have to thank her a lot.”
Hannah, who had to take a week off from school to compete at the Nov. 24 to 28 CCA Finals Rodeo, finished last in her event with times of 0:14.83, 0:14.61, 0:19.87, 0:24.98 and 0:19.17 for an aggregate time of 0:93.46, which was 21.40 seconds behind first place finisher Mardi Yarshenko. She said those times resulted from hitting barrels in the final three races, but still described the showing as “pretty good” considering it was her first time at the season-ending event.
The Carievale native said the CCA Finals Rodeo was really exciting with huge crowds cheering her on. The competition in the junior girls barrel racing event was tough with the top girls of her age group from Alberta and Saskatchewan each vying for the top position.
Hannah noted she has seen each of the other five girls in her event during the season, where she placed at many of the 16 to 20 rodeos entered in this year, before coming into the CCA Finals Rodeo as the second ranked junior girls barrel racer for all of Canada.
She said the difference between her previous rodeos during the season and the CCA competition last week may have come down to Nike preferring outdoor tracks instead of the dirt ground at the Brandt Centre, but the experience nonetheless will be a big help for her next chance at the Finals Rodeo in 2016.
“I won’t get as nervous (next time),” she said. “I know how to do runs and stuff (now) because that was my first time running her.”
