At just 29 years old, Whitney DeSalvo is already well-versed in etching her name in team roping’s history books, but that’s not stopping her from setting ambitious goals in 2024.
The Arkansas cowgirl is known for her laid-back, goofy personality and lightning-fast heeling, but she’s beginning to expand her reach as a teacher, horse trainer and—wait for it—even a header in the year 2024.
The Bob Feist Invitational Charlie 1 Horse All-Girl has proved a good investment for DeSalvo over the years but, in 2024, her sixth victory—and her second behind Kenzie Kelton—may have been her most impressive performance overall.
Not only did she bank the overall aggregate victory on four steers behind Kelton in the heeling, DeSalvo also earned second-place money heading in front of Kelsie Domer to split $15,000.
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Then, in the same roping, DeSalvo also won seventh heeling for Megan Meredith to split $5,000 in the aggregate, plus qualified two more runs back to the short round. On the heels in the Rotations, DeSalvo went 6.26 seconds behind Jessica Small to split $1,200, then came back to earn the same dollar amount for a 5.84-second run with Kenna Francis. Her 6.23 in the short round heading with Domer was good enough to split another $1,000 for the fast time.
Overall, DeSalvo took home a total of $23,500 from the BFI in her own pockets. On the year, she’s already well over the $50,000 mark for her combined earnings on both ends.
Decoding DeSalvo’s success
With a huge portion of her yearly earnings coming out of the BFI in 2024, and the profits she’s earned in years past, it begs the question: Why does DeSalvo excel inside the Lazy E?
“I think a lot of it’s that it’s a big arena and we rope strong steers,” DeSalvo said. “I rope in the higher numbered ropings a lot, so when the steers are big, and they run it’s what I’m used to. They usually have the best steers here out of all the All-Girls; I’d say that whether I won a dime or not. It’s the best set of cows that we rope all year, and that’s reflected in the times that come out of it.”
DeSalvo added to that total roping in Fort Worth at the Cinch USTRC National Finals of Team Roping April 21 when she took seventh with Brock Hanson in the #15.5 Thrive Equine Shootout and earning her another $3,530.
Next, DeSalvo’s setting her sights on the Women’s Rodeo World Championship in Fort Worth on May 13-18. She’s coming into the WRWC ranked No. 20 in the Pro Heading with 1181.75 points earned and No. 4 in the Pro Heeling with 5432 points earned during the nomination period.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the WRWC and the handy women ready to ascend on Fort Worth come May.
— TRJ —
