Martha Angelone and Jackie Crawford battled through a wolfy Showdown Round to advance—and win—the Triple Crown Round at the 2023 Women’s Rodeo World Championship Saturday, May 20 in Fort Worth.

For Crawford, who has 20 WPRA gold buckles to her name but has yet to claim a WRWC title, the victory was a long time coming.

“Winning this is like the saying ‘They can’t beat you unless you quit,’” Crawford, 40, said. “Some of the biggest titles I’ve ever won, I’ve failed at them time and time again. With the WRWC, I made it back [to the finals] at the Windy City Roundup with Ruby Manus and we didn’t have any luck, and then I came back to the finals in the heading with Annette Stahl last year and we didn’t have any luck. This was different.”

For the 7.08-second time in the Triple Crown of Rodeo Round, Angelone and Crawford are each taking home $60,000. The grand total for Angelone is even sweeter, since she won the All Around World Championship too for an additional $20,000.

Slow, sticky steers in the Showdown and Triple Crown Rounds

The victory came despite slower steers that had Angelone looking for extra room in the Showdown Round as she slapped it on one immediately and began towing him up the wall in the tight Cowtown Coliseum arena.

“I knew our steer was slow and put his head up, so I was going to try to be on the barrier, get him roped and set us up to be really fast,” Angelone, 28, said. “I didn’t think about the possibility of running out of room [at the top of the arena]. The steer was starting to drag, and I ran a little bit of rope, so it was more dramatic than it should have been.”

“I’ve always enjoyed team roping, I used to go to the World Series before breakaway got big. It’s kind of like going back to where I started.”

Martha Angelone

Crawford was tracking behind feeling a bit nervous watching things unfold, saying she had to wait for Angelone to handle the steer enough for a sure-fire shot.

“That first round was a little scary,” Crawford said. “This team roping was unbelievably tough. I was nervous because we had to be so fast to make it back.”

The two stopped the clock in 6.38 seconds, putting them in second place for the clean-slate Triple Crown Round. According to Crawford, at that point the two had agreed there was “no use in overthinking it now.”

A time of 7.08 seconds outpaced reserve champions Kayelen Helton and Lorraine Moreno by five hundredths of a second.

“Martha is a winner, and we might not team rope all the time, but I know that when you get with someone who is a winner, they’re going to win when it’s time,” Crawford said.

WRWC Team Roping Horsepower

Angelone’s head horse “Punk” is boyfriend Tanner Green’s rodeo mount. She described the 10-year-old gelding’s style as free-running and easy to face, when she found out the hard way in the first go-round as she whipped Punk around and had him rear to finish the run.

Angelone said while he’s Green’s horse, she’d like to compete on him at a large venue like the BFI.

Crawford’s horse is $6,500 grade gelding “Leroy.” She bought the sorrel from her dad several years ago, and he’s proved his worth with an easygoing temperament and consistency.

“This is Leroy’s biggest win,” Crawford said, smiling like a proud parent.

Find complete WRWC results here.