Bailey VanKoll competing on her horse Dilbert as they round a barrel in a race last year.
Bailey VanKoll holds up her championship saddle from the Junior National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas and gets a giant check for $2,000.
Bailey VanKoll poses for a picture atop her trusty steed Dilbert. She recently won the Junior National Finals Rodeo championship in barrel racing in Las Vegas.
The best barrel racer in the United States between the ages of 12 and 16 lives right here in Clark County.
Bailey VanKoll, 13, of Hockinson, riding her horse Dilbert, earned that title in Las Vegas last month by being named champion of the Junior National Finals Rodeo (Jr.NFR).
The Jr.NFR Competition featured 30 barrel racers from all over the United States. To qualify, there were six regional competitions from which the top five advanced. VanKoll’s regional competition was at Moses Lake at the end of summer which earned her a spot at Jr.NFR.
At Jr.NFR, VanKoll said she was just happy to be there and “didn’t expect to do that well.” However, once the event got underway she and her horse Dilbert started off hot and never looked back.
The way the barrel racing championship was set up was that each racer would get three rides on the track. A cumulative score of times determined final placements.
In VanKoll’s first race she finished faster than everyone and was atop the leaderboard. Her second race wasn’t as good, but after round two she was still in the lead. In the third and final race VanKoll put the competition to rest by again finishing faster than anybody.
“I think I’m most proud of the way she handled the situation with such grace,” said her mother and coach, Allison VanKoll. “A lot of kids fold under that kind of pressure, but she didn’t. We always say she has ice running through her veins.”
In addition to becoming a champion, VanKoll was also awarded $3,500 in prize winnings and was given a championship saddle, breast collar and jacket.
“It was all just really cool,” VanKoll said, adding fans asked for her autograph. “That was a little different.”
Bailey made sure to deflect the spotlight to her star teammate whenever possible. Her horse Dilbert, she said, is “awesome.”
“I’m so proud of him,” she added. “He’s super consistent.”
As nice as it was for Bailey and the family to come out on top, they’ve already focused their attention on the next opportunity to be winners. The VanKolls are in Arizona competing in a number of smaller individual rodeo competitions and will be there for the next month.
