The Teton Barrel Racing Association held its end-of-season banquet recently at the Mill Iron Ranch, where everyone had a wonderful time. It was a lively bunch with great prizes, door prizes, raffles, food, and, best of all, good company.

TBRA thanks those who made this year memorable, including Neal Henderson from Reaction Photography; Kelli Fennessey and the Teton County Fair Board; Sam Scott, who stores their albums and history; Shane Hollingsworth at Tormack Custom Screen Printing, who makes their wonderful jackets and other gear; Denise Stark, who makes everything sweeter with her amazing baking;  Kim and Chancy Wheeldon for their continued hospitality at Mill Iron Ranch; and Abbey Hardeman, who shot awesome video of all the season runs and events. This club is clearly a community effort and one with proud Jackson roots.

Below is a recap of TBRA’s 2012 season award winners. Some knew they would be getting a special acknowledgement but for some it was quite a surprise.

In the pee wee barrel racing category, first-place honors went to Rylee Hasenack, who ended the season with 59 points overall. Hailey Hardeman came in second with 47 points, and an accumulation of 44 points put Rylee Colson in third.

For the junior barrel racing class, Caden Colson took first with a total of 44 points. Tanner Colson’s 27 points earned a second- place spot and Sarah Andrews was third with 20 points.

Senior barrels’ first place went to Pam Romsa with 45 points. De Hunter captured second in this class with 37 points. Amassing 34 points to place third was LJ Coen.

In the novice barrel racing group it was Kristen Lemke in the lead with 47 points. She was followed by Kathy Lucas with 38 points; close behind her in third with 35 points was Kaitlyn Romsa.

The open barrels division distinctions started with Kayla Romsa in the lead with 45 points, saw Kelly Holmes claiming second-place honors with 43 points, and saw Anne Melsaether taking third with her 31 points.

In the pee wee pole bending category, first-place honors went to Rylee Hasenack who ended the season with 56 points overall. Hailey Hardeman came in second with 45 points, and an accumulation of 40 points put Rylee Colson in third. Do I hear an echo?

For the junior pole bending class, Sarah Andrews to first with a total of 40 points. Tanner Colson’s 39 points earned a second-place spot and Caden Colson was third with 30 points.

Senior poles’ first place went to Pam Romsa with 49 points. De Hunter captured second in this class with 41 points. Amassing 36 points to place third was Debbie Guthrie.

In the novice pole bending group it was Kristen Lemke in the lead with 33 points, followed by Kathy Lucas with 33 points. Close behind her in third with 25 points was Kayla Romsa.

The open poles division distinctions started with Anne Melsaether in the lead with 41 points, saw Lora Colson claiming second-place honors with 36 points, and saw Nicole Uhl in third with her 33 points.

Other TBRA annual awards and their winners were the 2012 Super Horse, who was TDN Dusters Frosty, aka “Snoopy.” He was ridden by Anne Melsaether; together they gathered 77 points over the year. The 2012 Reserve Super Horse was Bobbi, ridden by Kelly Holmes; their teamwork brought them 70 points for the season. Rookie of the Year honors went to Michelle Finley, and the fastest overall barrel racing time was 17.4 seconds by Rylee Hassenack.

The fastest pole bending time was achieved by Anne Melsaether at a nearly liquid 21.1 seconds; most improved honors were showered on Denise Stark; and Keith Holmes was dubbed an honorary member for all of his helpful involvement. The 2012 Babs Yokel Memorial Sportsmanship Award went to Ashlyn Chamberland at the youth level and to Carol Petersen in the adult category. The always bittersweet hard luck award was generously spread around to Carol with Tricky, Kathy and Shyann Lucas with Doc, Mindy McKay with Dusty, and Ashlyn and Amy Chamberland with BayMan.

The 2012 TBRA Officer Team consisted of Barb Andrews, Lora Colson, Carol Peterson, Pam Romsa, Kelly Holmes, Abbey Hardeman and Nicole Uhl. These ladies did much good work over the past year, especially Kelly, who drug the arena after every eight runs in both barrels and poles competitions each Tuesday night to ensure safe ground and equality for all runners.

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Ceci Clover writes weekly on the doings and doers in and around Jackson Hole. Submissions may be sent to circlingthesquare@hotmail.com or call 307-733-8348.