NHSRA

𝐖𝐲𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠’𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭

In her senior year, Hadley Thompson of Yoder, Wyo., is on a mission to repeat as the NHSFR Girls’ All-Around Champion in Lincoln, in honor of two very special angels she knows will be cheering her on.

“I think it would be really cool to win the NHSFR again,” said Thompson, who last year also won the national breakaway and goat tying championships to become the first NHSFR cowgirl in 35 years with a hat trick (three titles). “It’s definitely my goal. At the end of the day, though, God has a plan. If He wants it to happen, it will.”

Thompson couldn’t have come any closer to this being a possible three-peat. Back in 2024, she was the NHSFR’s runner-up breakaway champ by .06 seconds, runner-up goat-tying champ by .10 seconds and runner-up all-around champ by just 150 points.

“Two years ago, I was stupid-close to winning all three,” Hadley said. “It made me so mad. I told myself that in 2025 I was going to come back and win it all.”

So... she did. Thompson returned to Rock Springs in beast mode, putting up the fastest breakaway and goat-tying times of the rodeo in the finals to claim both event titles and win the all-around championship by almost 400 points.

“I thought it showed off the Thompson mentality,” said her older sister Haiden Thompson, the 2021 NHSFR goat tying champion. “We don’t like anything but first place! It was pretty good to see her come back and do so well.”

Hadley won it all aboard a 6-year-old mare that she broke to ride and trained herself. CD Smokin Miss Kitty (“Salty”) easily won the AQHA’s Girls’ Horse of the Year award after carrying Hadley to breakaway runs of 2.95, 2.24 and 2.05 seconds, respectively, and goat-tying runs of 6.54, 7.17 and 6.31 seconds.

Did we mention that Thompson also placed fourth in the first round of team roping last year? The cowgirl from The Cowboy State jackpotted her way to $13,162 in total earnings in Rock Springs.

This year, Hadley will compete in Lincoln in pole bending, goat tying and breakaway roping. Salty will again be in her trailer, as well as the mare’s 4-year-old sister, Kit Kat. The Thompson kids train all their own horses, which Haiden says makes their wins even more special. Hadley will be pole bending on Lena – the mare on which she won the 2021 NJHFR breakaway roping championship.

“Hadley’s mentality last year was to just do her job and ultimately it worked out in her favor,” said Haiden, a back-to-back College National Finals Rodeo Champion All-Around Cowgirl and currently the 9th-ranked breakaway roper in the world. “I could see her doing the same thing in 2026. She’s 18, and a lot of the pro breakaway ropers are scared for her to get out here!”

It helps that Hadley, who is the sixth of Thorpe and Shelly Thompson’s eight kids, has competitive siblings to practice with at home. Little sister Tinley Thompson is only 11, and just returned from competing in three events at the NJHFR, where she made the finals against eighth-graders.

“Everything in our world is a competition, to the point sometimes we feel the need to race to see how fast we can eat,” joked their dad Thorpe. “The girls push each other hard.”

He uses just one word to describe Hadley’s secret weapon – grit.

“All our kids have it,” he said. “They don’t quit. They never back down.”

This spring, Hadley qualified for The American in Globe Life Field. She got there via a last-chance qualifier in Las Vegas, where she roped her calf in a blistering 1.7 seconds to outpace the likes of world champ Jackie Crawford and earn $10,000.

Clearly, after Thompson enrolls at Southwest Texas Junior College this fall, it won’t be unlikely to see her join the ranks of other former NHSFR breakaway champs including NFR average champ Cadee Williams (2008), million-dollar earner Sarah Angelone (2016), Salinas winner Josey Murphy (2020), and Canadian champion Kendal Pierson (2021).

But first, Hadley Thompson is focused on repeating at the NHSFR. This time, she doesn’t have redemption for second place on her mind. She has an even better incentive to win.

In April, Hadley’s 18-year-old cousin Trigg Thompson of Cheyenne passed away. And just last week, she lost her grandfather Tommy Thompson, who like her, grew up in Niobrara County.

“My cousin was like my brother, really,” said Hadley. “And my grandpa, who was my biggest supporter, passed away on July 11. I’ve got some good angels, and I’m doing it for them this year.”

By: Julie Mankin