Southaven native Kindyl Scruggs wins Women’s Rodeo Barrel Racing Championship

Photo: Kindyl Scruggs is interviewed by CBS Sports Network’s Kate Harrison following her barrel racing championship at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship.

Credit: Northwest Community College Sports Information

Northwest rodeo alumnus Kindyl Scruggs finished with a Texas-sized performance at the Women’s Rodeo World Championship last week.

Scruggs, a Northwest Sports Hall of Famer and Southaven native, logged a 15.384-second time in the barrel racing finals at AT&T Stadium last Saturday evening, earning the World Championship Event Champion title.

It marked the end of a long week for Scruggs, who opened with an 18.33-second time in the first round on May 13. She improved her time to 13.412 seconds in Tuesday’s second round, running her average time to 31.743, good for the 12th and final qualifying slot to advance.

From there, Scruggs continued to improve, cutting her time down to 13.097 seconds in the semifinal round on May 15. Her time was the best recorded result of the round, which allowed her to advance to the Saturday finals and pushed her average time to 44.84 seconds.

With her championship-winning performance, Scruggs finished with earnings of $60,015.38 and bested the 2023 IPRA (International Pro Rodeo Association) World Champion Julie Plourde (Chicoutimi, Quebec), who finished second with a 15.724-second time.

Scruggs has competed on the women’s professional rodeo circuits since departing Northwest, where she spent the 2013-15 seasons with the Rangers. As a freshman, Scruggs won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s Ozark Region title in barrel racing and earned a bid to the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming that summer. She captured five individual wins that season and qualified for several events outside of Northwest, including the International Finals Rodeo, Lonestar Rodeo Company and the American Quarter Horse Association.

After finishing 11th in the Ozark Region during the 2013-14 season, Scruggs rebounded to place in several rodeo events during 2014-15, her final season of competition at Northwest. Her season-best finish came in Texarkana, Ark. at Cossatot Community College, where she notched a fifth-place result.

Scruggs was enshrined into the Northwest Sports Hall of Fame in 2020, becoming one of only four rodeo inductees all-time.