LAS VEGAS, Nev. – A trio of former members of the SWOSU Rodeo team will be competing for the PRCA World Championship at the upcoming Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR), which begins on Thursday night (Dec. 5) in Las Vegas.
The list is headlined by bull rider
Sage Kimzey, who competed for the Bulldogs during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons before joining the professional ranks, where he has since won five consecutive Bull Riding World Championships. Kimzey is a heavy favorite to make it six straight as he enters the NFR with earnings of $245,437.78, more than $90,000 ahead of the rest of the field.
Among Kimzey's 14 competitors in Bull Riding will be his younger brother,
Trey Kimzey, who makes his first appearance at the NFR this season. The younger Kimzey rode for the Bulldogs during the 2017-18 season before embarking on his professional career.
Trey Kimzey earned the 15th and final spot in Bull Riding with year-to-date earnings of $108,160.37.
Another former Bulldog who will be making her NFR debut is
Emily Miller, who earned a spot as one of the top 15 Barrel Racers on the circuit. She starred at SWOSU for two years, making College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) appearances to close out the 2013 and 2014 seasons after starting out at Garden City Community College for two years. Miller enters the finals ranked seventh in Barrel Racing with yearly earnings of $98,144.73 to date.
"It's awesome to see Sage, Trey and Emily living out their dreams and earning the right to compete at the most elite level in rodeo," SWOSU Head Coach
Mike Visnieski said. "I'm very proud of them and wish them each the best of luck in Las Vegas!"
The Wrangler NFR is the season-ending championship event for the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and is widely acknowledged to be the world's premier rodeo. Held annually since 1959 – and since 1985, every December at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas – the Wrangler NFR is ProRodeo's richest and most prestigious rodeo, and it showcases the very best cowboys, barrel racers and livestock in the world.
The Top 15 contestants in the standard rodeo events – bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping (headers and heelers), saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, WPRA barrel racing and bull riding – qualify to compete at the Wrangler NFR based on money won during the regular season. At the conclusion of the Wrangler NFR, the sport's world champions are determined based on total season earnings – what they win during the Wrangler NFR added to what they won during the regular season.
The Wrangler NFR consists of 10 rounds – one round on each of 10 consecutive days with each contestant competing once each day. Contestants earn money by placing first through sixth in any round, and pick up more money by placing first through eighth in the average (cumulative times or points earned during the 10 rounds). At the conclusion of the NFR on December 14th, there will be two champions in each event: the average winner, who won the Wrangler NFR by having the best cumulative time or score for that event over the 10 rounds, and the world champion, who finished the year with the most money.
Live television coverage of the NFR takes place on the CBS Sports Network, beginning nightly at 9:00 pm CST.
