WINNING WAYS WITH KIM WILLIAMSON BY JANICE BRYSON
After graduation from Farmington High School in 1987, Kim moved to Phoenix, Arizona to attend DeVry Institute of Technology. She graduated from DeVry in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Operations. It was time to hit the rodeo trail hard again. In 1995 Kim was a Finalist in Breakaway Roping for the Southwest Professional Rodeo Association. She was busy in 1996 competing in several rodeo associations becoming a finalist in Breakaway Roping in both the New Mexico Rodeo Association and the North American Rodeo Commission World. That year she was the West World Series Breakaway Champion and also won the Breakaway Championship for the Southwest Professional Rodeo Association. 1997 and 1998 found her very involved in the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association; she was a Breakaway and Tie-Down Calf Roping Finalist in 1997 and Kim added Team Roping Heading and Heeling to her qualifying events as she headed to the WPRA Finals in 1998. In 2000 Kim teamed up with her American Quarter Horse Association Breakaway Horse of the Year – Ladies Doc Desperado. They were a perfect fit; winning Breakaway Championships that year for the WPRA “Cactus Series”, the Grand Canyon Professional Rodeo Association and Reserve Champion Breakaway for the WPRA. The duo also had a finalist spot in the Tie-Down Calf Roping event. Kim became the WPRA World Champion Team Roping Heeler that year as well as winning the team roping finals average. Kim continued her winning streak with both the WPRA and the Grand Canyon Rodeo Association. 2002 saw Kim riding the Tie-Down Calf Roping Horse of the Year, El Torro Doc, a horse Kim owned and trained herself. She set a new WPRA Breakaway arena record of 5.9 seconds on 3 calves in 2004. Between 2000 and 2008, Kim won WPRA World Championships twice each in Team Roping Heeling and Breakaway Calf Roping as well as a Team Roping Heading World Championship and a Tie-Down Calf Roping World Championship. The World Championships were in addition to being a WPRA Finals qualifier multiple times in these events through the years and being a Reserve World Champion a number of times in the events. Kim is the only women to ever win dual team roping titles. Kim has won a world title in every event she has roped in. In addition, Kim has twice won the prestigious All-Around WPRA All Women’s Rodeo World Champion title. Kim’s outstanding roping ability in the rodeo arena has been featured in print articles in magazines such as Western Horseman, Spin to
The Women’s Professional Rodeo Association (WPRA) is one of the largest rodeo sanctioning bodies in the world and is open to women eighteen years of age and older. The Association, with headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, currently has over 3,000 members from all over the contiguous United States, Canada, and Australia. In addition to the WPRA’s barrel racing events held in conjunction with Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) events, the WPRA also has an All Women’s Division which sanctions rodeos exclusively for women. These all women’s rodeos feature five events – break-away calf roping, tie-down calf roping, team roping, bareback riding and bull riding - in addition to the barrel race. The 2018 WPRA World Championships were held in October in Waco, Texas. Arizona cowgirl Kim Williamson is an eight time World Champion WPRA Breakaway Calf Roper and Team Roper. Raised in Farmington, New Mexico, Kim’s father rode rough stock and roped a little bit so Kim grew up around horses and rodeos. Growing up, she was involved in all the NM Junior Rodeo events she could compete in; including barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, ribbon roping, breakaway calf roping and team roping. Working hard at events in New Mexico High School Rodeo, Kim qualified to compete in the National High Rodeo Association Finals in barrel racing, team roping and breakaway calf roping. She got to travel to South Dakota and Colorado to compete in the National High School Finals. 26
