Women in Rodeo Month is presented by Mane ‘n Tail.
The Ariat World Series of Team Roping has made Las Vegas the richest week of the year for amateur ropers, and these five women have cashed in on it.
Between them they’ve won over $1.9 million, including a $109,500 Finale win and a career total over $500,000. Earnings are from WSTR records as of Sept. 21, 2026.
Please note: Earnings are based on the Global database at the time of publication and may not include all winnings or every roper.
5) Anna Bader | $343,762.15
Many ropers know her as Anna Gregory. She grew up ranching and roping in southern Colorado and earned a degree in agricultural business. After a stint in medical sales, she became a sixth-grade teacher in Amarillo, Texas. She heads, and she has cashed checks at qualifiers across Texas, New Mexico, Kansas and Wyoming. Her biggest win came at the 2012 Finale, where she and Jamie Pohnert won the #11 in 34.17 on four head. It’s still the biggest single check any of these five women has won at the World Series.
Biggest wins:
- Champion, #11, 2012 WSTR Finale: $109,500
- Second, #11 WS Qualifier, Wiley Hicks Memorial: $9,270
- Third, #11.5 Super Qualifier, South Point: $8,580
- Champion, #11 Capped @ #6+, Amarillo: $6,734
- Champion, #12 WS Qualifier, Mormon Lake: $6,145
4) Brooke Wilson | $344,175.50
Brooke Wilson of Canyon, Texas, may be best known for the horses she and her husband, Rodey, make and sell through Wilson Cattle Co. They had the high seller at The Horse Sale at Rancho Rio three years running, from 2022 through 2024. That included Rusty Peptoboonsmal, the horse Brooke rode to the 2022 Riata Buckle #10.5 heading title. At the World Series, her biggest money came from back-to-back Finale checks in 2013 and 2014.
Biggest wins:
- Fifth, #10, 2014 WSTR Finale: $57,000
- Fifth, #9, 2013 WSTR Finale: $34,000
- Second, #10.5 Super Qualifier, Cheyenne: $13,965
- Champion, #11.5 Shootout, All Star Finals Qualifier: $12,240
- Second, #13.5 Super 7 Header, Cheyenne: $11,500
3) Kayelen Helton | $374,975.80
Kayelen Helton is a Texas cowgirl who worked her way through junior rodeo and college rodeo to ProRodeo as a breakaway roper. She has become one of the top female headers in team roping. Roping isn’t her full-time job: she’s a licensed professional counselor. She also stands the rope horse stallion Cat Man San, known as Hopper, and she made much of her money on a bay head horse named Tarzan that she refused to sell. Her biggest World Series check came at the 2019 Finale. She also won the inaugural All-Girl Open at The Cowgirl Gathering in Fort Worth with Annette Stahl. Hear more from Helton on The Score.
Biggest wins:
- Fourth, #14.5, 2019 WSTR Finale: $36,000
- 11th, #12.5, 2024 WSTR Finale: $22,000
- Champion, #12 Heartland, Graham: $14,835
- Champion, #13.5 Heartland, Hamilton: $9,350
- Fourth, #13.5 Super 7 WS Qualifier, Cheyenne: $8,500
2) LaRae Branham | $377,547.60
LaRae Branham’s first name is her dad’s name spelled backward. Her dad is Earl Higgins, and the two of them have roped together for about 50 years and call each other their favorite partners. She roped breakaway at New Mexico Junior College, and her team finished second in the nation in both breakaway and all-around in 1982. She moved to Desert Hills, Arizona, with her parents in 2001 and teaches at a charter school. She and Earl split $64,000 for fourth at the 2010 Finale and $50,000 for ninth in 2014. Her biggest check came in 2019, when she placed fourth in the #11.5.
Biggest wins:
- Fourth, #11.5, 2019 WSTR Finale: $69,000
- Fourth, #10, 2010 WSTR Finale (with Earl Higgins): $32,000
- Eighth, #11.5, 2021 WSTR Finale: $29,500
- Ninth, #10, 2014 WSTR Finale (with Earl Higgins): $25,000
- Second, Perfect #10.5, Las Vegas Qualifier: $17,000
1) Jayme Marcrum | $504,708
Jayme Marcrum is the only woman to pass half a million dollars at the World Series. She’s a Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame inductee and a breakaway legend who switched to heading. She roped her whole life and was roping in the Open before handicaps existed in the 1990s. She was also at the very first World Series roping in Salado, Texas. In 2011, she and her best friend, Martha Lynn Walters, placed fourth in the #10 at the Finale. That’s the win she remembers most. Since then, her biggest check came in 2019, when she placed third in the #10.5 for $92,500.
Biggest wins:
- Third, #10.5, 2019 WSTR Finale: $92,500
- Fourth, #10, WSTR Finale: $35,000
- Eighth, #12.5, 2024 WSTR Finale: $31,500
- Third, #11.5, 2023 WSTR Finale: $18,480
- Second, #10.5 30+ Businessman’s, Mt. Pleasant Qualifier: $9,500