John Douch, of Hunstville, Texas, lassoes his calf and gets ready to jump off his horse in tie-down roping during the fifth performance of the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo at Foster Communications Coliseum on Thursday, April 7, 2022. Rodeo No 5 John Douch Charles Bryce/San Angelo Standard-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Record Setting Run By Anita Ellis Caps Off Exciting Finish To Pool At Calgary Stampede

Originally posted on Rodeo on SI | Last updated Jul 7, 2025 5:20 PM ET

Alberta, Canada waits all year for the Calgary Stampede and now it’s finally here. Pool A just finished up and the first set of athletes that fought their way to the finals have been named.

Pool A is highlighted by barrel racer Anita Ellis. She stole the highlight reel with a clean sweep and a new arena record in the last round.

The final day of barrel racing was tough with three sub-17 second runs. The arena record was actually broken twice on day three. Emily Beisel ran a 16.84 on her old faithful, Chongo. She had the record for about two minutes before Ellis came out and blasted a 16.79.

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The tie-down roping is sending three NFR qualifiers to the finals. Shad Mayfield advanced, but just barely. The Pool was actually taken by John Douch who was first or second in all three rounds with his slowest time being a 7.5 second run. Riley Pruitt also advanced opening with the fastest time of the Pool, 7.1 seconds, and a third place finish on the final day.

Pool A set the bar high for competition for the Stampede. The next two pools will send an additional six contestants in each event to take on these athletes in the finals. When all is said and done over two million will have been paid out.

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This article first appeared on Rodeo on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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