Photo courtesy of Boaz Elkes
By Julie Johansen
The Black Hawk Arena in Salina was the venue for two Xtreme barrel races over the last two weeks. The Reunion Race was held on June 19, 20 and 21. It had about 500 runners each day and each day was its own race, but all were figured into the average.
The Million Race was on June 22, 23, 27, 28 and 29. Qualifying races were held for the last 18 months so that entrants could qualify for the final races. Then, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, about 70 qualifiers had to cancel, so the race was opened up to everyone with an entrance fee of $1,500, resulting in 900 entries in the five days.
The payout was $1,047,307 from entry fees and added pots. Some local girls participated in the races and three won big. Chandelle Rudman took first in the 5D, winning $19,554 with a time of 16.868 seconds in the Million. AnnDee Mead won the Sunday race of the Reunion and was fourth in the average while Alexis Gleaves won the 2D average.