Louisiana Cowgirl Earns $45,000 on Night One of Million Dollar Breakaway

The first three rounds are complete, and a hotshot from Louisiana was the high-money winner of the evening.

Josie Conner | Nathan Meyer Photography

The Million Dollar Breakaway is in full swing in Scottsdale, Arizona and the substantial payoffs have already started.

During the Night 1 action, four-time National Finals Breakaway Roping Qualifier Josie Conner was the star of the show. While Conner has her sights set on winning her first World Championship, she has some solid business to take care of in Scottsdale first.

Conner's Road to $45,000

Josie Conner | Nathan Meyer Photography

In Round 1, Conner came out strong when she finished second with her 2.07-second run to quickly pocket $20,000.

Danielle Lowman put on the 'D-Low' Show in that first round with her trademark style and took the win with a smoking 2.00-second flat run. The quick throw earned the Gilbert, Arizona lady a smooth $25,000.

Round 2 brought about a hiccup for Conner as she had to take a no-time after a quick throw and a miss. Sarah Angelone looked in fine form in the round where she was crowned the champion with a 2.05-second run.

Angelone took the win by a little under two tenths with Beau Peterson taking home the reserve check with a 2.21 stop of the clock.

The miss in Round 2 ignited a fire in Conner. She backed in the box and after she nodded her head, completed the entire run in a short 1.88 seconds. That was the fastest run of the night and enough to earn her the first-place check of $25,000.

All in all, that brought the petite, but mighty cowgirl's total to $45,000 on the evening. She leads the field in money won so far.

"I'm just so blessed to have Dutch. He just puts me where I need to be and lets me win," Conner said, giving the credit to her amazing horse.

Other Stand-Outs on Night 1

Shelby Meged | Fernando Sam-Sin

The beautiful blonde from Stephenville, Texas, Sarah Angelone, put together some solid runs in the first two rounds. She picked up the fourth-place check in Round 1 worth $10,000 for her 2.18-second run. The Texan followed that up with the win in Round 2 to set up a great start.

Comanche, Texas, is the home to Hali Williams, and it is also where she will be depositing her $30,000 paycheck from the first night of action. Williams put together two great runs - one in Round 1 of a 2.1 and the other in Round 3 with a quicker 2.00 run. Both of those were good for third-place checks of $15,000 each.

From the results, it looks like Shelby Meged leads the field in the average calculations, but there is still plenty of roping left.

The Million Dollar Breakaway will kick off the second night of big money payouts in just a few hours. All 25 cowgirls will get to run three more calves to see who will make the final cut down to just 15 and move on to the final four rounds Saturday night.

Another $247,500 will be awarded on night two before an astounding $505,000 gets paid out on the final night. Don't miss a minute of the action. Fans can tune into CBS Sports at 7 pm MST on both Friday and Saturday nights.

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