McCracken takes state barrel racing honors

Published 6:30 am Wednesday, October 6, 2021

From left, Bailey McCracken, Sarah Clark and Rowdy Israel pose for a picture at the Cottage Grove Rodeo last month.

A Grant Union High School student took the top spot in barrel racing and second in pole bending in the state, as the Oregon High School Rodeo Association saddled up the season.

Bailey McCracken, a sophomore, finished first out of a pool of 24 other riders in barrel racing. Barrel racing is when a horse and rider attempt to run a pattern around barrels in the fastest time.

McCracken finished with a cumulative score of 24, while finishing pole-bending in the No. 2 spot with a score of 41, beating out 23 other riders. Pole bending is a timed event, where a rider runs the horse through a weaving or serpentine path around six poles arranged in a line.

Another Grant Union student, Sarah Clark, took the no. 15 spot, with a pole-bending cumulative score of 4.

In the final rodeo of the season in Condon on Sept. 24-25, McCracken placed fifth in the top 10 in barrel racing with a time of 18.3 and fifth in pole bending with a time of 21.6. Clark placed seventh out of the top 10 with a time of 21.9 in pole bending.

On the first day of the Condon Rodeo, Rowdy Israel, from Dayville, had a 5.83 time in the breakaway roping event.

Over the summer, Bailey McCracken and her brother Sam competed at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Nebraska. Bailey finished in the top third overall.

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