PRCA Photo by Click Thompson

Welcome to Headliners and Hidden Gems where we are going to highlight the best performers each week, while also looking at some of the under-the-radar performances as well. This past weekend brought us standout team roping in San Antonio, bull riding in Brighton, and much, much more.

Headliner: Dustin Egusquiza/Levi Lord – The pair, who won San Antonio in 2023, showed out there again this year with runs of 3.5, 5.2, and 3.6 seconds to win Bracket 4. Their times of 3.5 and 3.6 are the two fastest of the rodeo and over the last three seasons, no pair has been 3.7 Seconds or Faster more often. With $7,878 already won, they have a golden opportunity to punch their ticket to the Finals.

Hidden Gem: Caden Camp – Camp entered last weekend with $2,200 from his one rodeo he entered, the Montana Circuit Finals, and won almost double that with a 4.9-second run to claim Round 1 at La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros (Arizona). On the longer score there, he was six tenths faster than second place.

Headliner: Jax Mills – The 20-year-old bull rider got the biggest win of his life when he rode Bruised Kitty for 89 points to win the San Antonio Xtreme Bulls Sunday. He won $13,875 for his two rides and was 3-for-5 overall between the rodeo and X Bulls in San Antone. He made over $50,000 as a rookie year ago and already has $20,000 won this season.

Hidden Gem: Tegan Smith – The 26-year-old saddle bronc rider is hoping to get back to the NFR for the first time since 2021 and over the weekend, he shared victory at the Cinch World’s Toughest in Ohio with Sage Newman for an 86.5-point ride on Devil’s Advocate. The rest of the leaderboard included names like Layton Green, Logan Hay, Wyatt Casper, and Mitch Pollock.

Headliner: Sophie Palmore – The barrel racer made it as a qualifier to San Antonio, but showed quickly she was a contender to win it all. She made what were at the time the two fastest runs of the rodeo in Bracket 4, Round 2 and Bracket 4, Round 3 with a 13.80 and 13.87. She also took fourth in Round 1 with a 14.02. To tally $6,302, tying with Wenda Johnson for the most by a barrel racer so far.

Hidden Gem: Andy Gingerich – The South Dakota native jumped to No. 15 in the world thanks to victories at two of the weekends smaller rodeos, Los Fresnos (Texas) and Brighton Field Days (Florida) with a pair of 84-point rides. The two wins paid him $2,172 and $2,456 respectively. In his first two years in ProRodeo, No. 41 and No. 46, with the most he’s ever earned in a season being $39,017. He already has $17,323 in 2025.

Headliner: Bradlee Miller – After kicking things off with an 85.5-point ride in Bracket 4, Miller followed it up with 88 points on Cash & Carry and 88.5 points on Night Delta to win the final two rounds and total $6,808, the most of any bareback rider so far. He has a chance to regain the No. 1 spot in the World over the weekend.

Hidden Gem: Brandon Ballard – Ballard did not compete between Nov. 10 and Feb. 7 and when he returned, he rode three bulls in a row at the Dixie National, Brighton Field Days Rodeo, and Bright Field Days Xtreme Bulls. The latter was 85 points and paid him over $7,000 for a third place finish.

Headliner: Tristan Mize – Speaking of riding three in a row, Mize did that in San Antonio and thanks to ground money, he totaled over $11,000, the most of any athlete in any event so far. He joins Stetson Wright and Mason Moody as bull riders who are perfect entering the Semifinals.

Hidden Gem: Rainey Skelton – Skelton finished second in the breakaway in Los Fresnos and also competed in the barrel racing there.