It took a few months, but the Winter Barrel Series at the Calnash Ag Event Centre has come to a conclusion.
Sponsored by Ponoka Family and Community Support Services, the jackpot-style barrel racing series was due to finish up with its final event on March 21. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 crisis got in the way about a week earlier and forced the event to be postponed in hopes it would eventually take place.
So when the province announced that certain events and activities could resume in Phase II of the relaunch plan, it took a couple of weeks to sort out a plan to get the last event going alongside strict protocols to ensure everyone stayed safe and followed provincial health guidelines.
In the end, there were nearly 270 entries in the open class on July 12, with Blake Molle from Chauvin claiming the top time of the day at 17.441 seconds. The win also lifted her to the overall series champion spot.
The other open class winners on the day were: 2D — AJ Neish and 3D — Ashlyn Lepage.
In the youth, the series champion was Brianne Vig of Drayton Valley. She also had the best time of day out of the 44 riders at 18.006.
Riley Feser won the 2D class with Emma Webb taking the 3D.
The peewee class saw Braelyn Avery take the 1D, Justin Kronschnabl win the 2D and the 3D event going to Kayden Horn.
