Women in Rodeo: Morgan Bagnell is Dominating Her Rookie Season

Rodeo athletes across the country are gearing up for a huge summer ahead. From massive checks to coveted titles, the summer will solidify which athletes have what it takes to land at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) come December.

Top of Rookie Standings

Morgan Bagnell may be in her rookie year, but she is dominating the circuit right now as she leads the rookie standings and is inching her way into the top 15. At No. 16, she is at the top of her game with $36,592 earned so far this season.

Bagnell is not only aiming for her first-ever NFR qualification, but she’s also gunning for the Resistol Rookie of the Year title. At 20 years old, the cowgirl out of Heath, Texas, was also taking on her sophomore year at Oklahoma State University during the beginning of the 2026 season.

She’s had many career highs already this year, including a win in the Wild Card round at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo and a solid performance at the Resistol Rookie Roundup in Fort Worth. Now, as she’s heading into the summer months, she’ll need some impressive horsepower behind her to break into the top 15.

Breaking Into Top 15

Bagnell and Gracen Harman (No. 15) are merely $300 apart, and she’s less than $1,000 from surpassing Paige Jones at No. 14. With the amount of money that comes out of the summer, these cowgirls will have to be on their A-game if they don’t want this star studded rookie to overtake them in the world standings.

Right now, she has four massive horses behind her that ultimately are at credit for her success. In an article with barrel racing.com she said,

“Obviously the horses play a lot into rodeoing professionally, especially in barrel racing. We had Sir – Sir was with Brittany (Pozzi-Tonozzi) – later on last year. Then I didn’t have one of the horses I had now and all I had was Catfish and Axle and they were great, but we knew horses were going to play a huge part in getting me where I wanted to get to.”

Looking ahead, Bagnell has a big summer ahead of her. If she manages to maintain this pace, she could be the only rookie barrel racer to enter the Thomas & Mack arena come December. If not, her campaign for Resistol Rookie of the Year is looking to be a solid one. Only time will tell what is to come for Bagnell but the sky is the limit for a cowgirl like this.

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