Angela Bartley had talked before about how much she loves pressure, how she tries to convert it into adrenaline.
So with the stakes higher than ever at the National High School Finals Rodeo, how much adrenaline could she generate?
Enough to make her a national champion.
“I could foresee that it could happen,” she said. “But it’s kind of one of those things that you just dream big about and hope about. But sometimes, it never happens. Well, this time, it actually did.”
Bartley brought the national pole bending championship home to Emporia after winning it last weekend in Farmington, N.M. Riding on a horse nicknamed Bugs, she finished just ahead of Randi Roberts of Gonzales, La.
Take the adrenaline Bartley creates from pressure, spike it with the adrenaline of winning the national title, and what do you get? Euphoria, of course.
“It was one of the best feelings I can ever have,” she said.
Bartley’s cumulative time for three runs was 61.033 seconds, ahead of Roberts’ 61.073. She made the final short-go by placing in the top 20 in the first two go-rounds, and she and Bugs then ran the second-fastest time in the short-go, 19.954 seconds. That was fast enough to give Bartley the best cumulative time, and in addition to that championship, she also finished fifth in the all-around cowgirl standings.
In going to Nationals — which also includes competitors from Australia and Canada — Angela followed in the footsteps of her older sister, Michelle, who made it there five years ago and also won a pole bending championship at the International Finals Youth Rodeo. With Angela’s recent success and experience, she and her family knew when they went to Farmington that it was possible for Bartley to bring back a title.
“I would say the word ‘realistic,’ yes — it was touchable,” said Angela’s mom, Linda Bartley. “She finished second in the state here for Kansas in the pole bending, and they take the top four from every state. So we knew that she did have a shot.
“... But it still was a shock when she actually did it. That’s something that just doesn’t happen very often, and so we were just really tickled.”
Though Angela won the State championship in breakaway roping this year, she finished just 47th at nationals in that competition. For roping, Bartley rode on a horse named Stitch.
“Bugs... really pulled through for me,” she said. “And Stitch, he did an outstanding job. I just didn’t really get my job done as I should’ve in the breakaway. But he still did outstanding.”
Fellow Emporians Cheyenne and Kevin Veatch were also in Farmington — Cheyenne ended up in 34th place in barrel racing, and Kevin finished 75th in the boys cutting competition. Along with hanging out with them, Bartley also got to compete alongside Emily Miller of Ingalls, a good friend of hers. Miller won the pole bending competition this year at IFYR and had the fastest time in the second go-round at Farmington.
“It’s great to compete with her,” Bartley said. “We kind of kept each other going, we pushed each other, but we’re still really good friends on the side. But still competitive against each other, so it was great competing with her. That’s one of the best memories that I’ll hold throughout college and everything else.”
Speaking of the future, it looks bright for the 16-year-old Bartley, who believes she still has plenty left to accomplish on a horse.
“There’s a lot of things,” she said. “I have two more years of high school rodeo left, and hopefully, I can just get another national championship, or the championship at the IFYR. I guess that’s the other dream thing. And then from there, hopefully on to college rodeo.”