Jimmi Jo Montera needs no introduction, and she sits atop both the 2025 WCRA Rodeo Corpus Christi and Reliance Ranches VRQ Bonus leaderboards. The Greeley, Colorado, native is a two-time Women’s Rodeo World Champion Heeler but now leads a tough field of some of the top team ropers in the game. Montera leads the Rodeo Corpus Christi heeling leaderboard with 7834.75 points, beating out 2021 NFR champion Buddy Hawkins by 4,316.5 points, and the Reliance Ranches VRQ Bonus leaderboard with 27178.35 points, 10,344.35 points ahead of Hawkins as well.
The Team Roping Journal: You’ve won two Women’s Rodeo world championships, but have you ever really nominated for any of the WCRA events?
JJM: I haven’t, but I’m not against it. The girl I rope with, Megan Gunter, she’s an extremely good header; she can reach, she’s very aggressive. I would like to get to where I would have a partner and we both qualified together and give it a shot.
TRJ: You’re leading a group of wolfy guys including Buddy Hawkins, Douglas Rich and Kollin VonAhn. What does that alone mean to you?
JJM: It just shows you the good opportunity for somebody like me who’s not rodeoing. I don’t go rodeo, so to have the chance to even have something to strive for besides just your weekend jackpot is nice. For what I go to, it’s also fun that I get to then go participate because what I go to counts.
TRJ: What do you primarily nominate toward the WCRA?
JJM: We jackpot a lot and try to nominate some of the better ones where the points are worth more. Mainly that and the World Series (of Team Roping) ropings. It’s been a while since I’ve been to some rodeos, so mainly just team ropings. I believe I nominated the WRWC, too, because I was thinking, well, that’s a good opportunity right there to get a lot of points.
TRJ: It’s neat to see the WCRA make so many opportunities for women, even to compete against the men like this, too.
JJM: It is good, and I think there have been a few girls that have entered the team roping. I would be more apt to do it if I felt like I had a partner that would want to rope with me consistently; I do feel like Megan would be and is darn sure good enough, but she lives in Arizona and we just haven’t really got on that page. But it is great, and the whole deal about the WRWC. I used to go to the WPRA Finals way back when I won the breakaway and the all-around, and everybody’s winning more money these days, but the money was not even close.
TRJ: What would winning the VRQ Bonus would mean to you?
JJM: I think it’s pretty special to me for the fact it is overall and the men, they could nominate enough, too. It’s something that’s open to not just women. The overall deal, it’s kind of fun to know that in my mind, I’m thinking maybe I nominated more, but then again, you look, some of those guys are rodeoing all summer long. I don’t know how much they nominate, but when I was ahead, I thought, “Well, shoot, I’ll just keep going for it.”
And then you get so close to the deadline, it’s like I didn’t want to quit a month out, so if I’m going somewhere, I’m going to pay for it. Because the amount of money it pays, I was telling myself I’d be upset with myself if I lost it by 100 points because I just didn’t decide to nominate the last two to three weeks.
TRJ: The winners of Rodeo Corpus Christi are also seeded into Kid Rock’s Rock N Rodeo. Did that influence you at all too, or is it just an awesome bonus?
JJM: It’s kind of an extra, but that’s pretty neat—that would be awesome. I’m not kidding myself, though. I know there are a lot of good guys entered that make the NFR. But you have to enter for any kind of chance to win anything. The fact that I had to enter, I was going to go ahead and do it since I was winning the VRQ. That’s the fun thing about the WCRA, too—there are a little different options. I watch the guys entered and I learn from them; they’re amazing. There’s a reason why they go to the NFR.
