As a freshman two seasons ago, Amber Scales earned her first intercollegiate barrel racing victory at the Colby (Kansas) Community College rodeo.

While she didn’t gain the title in the northwest Kansas community this past weekend, Scales posted the fastest time in the championship round and earned all-important points that have her sitting fourth in the Central Plains Region standings.

“Winning Colby was very important, because the weekend before, a friend’s little boy passed away in a pony riding accident,” said Scales, a junior from Pittsburg, Kansas. “I was riding for Max (Henderson).”

She...