Tiffany Tilton of Corinth and Tomi-Lee Plummer of Milbridge were among the competitors at last month’s 2005 National Barrel Horse Association Youth World Championships in Jackson, Miss.

Katie Turcotte of Litchfield and Jocelyn Britton of Stow also participated in the competition, which drew almost 1,500 combined in the youth (12-and-under) and teen (13-and-over) divisions from 45 states as well as Panama, Canada and Italy.

Riders must qualify for the world championships at NBHA-sanctioned shows at the local level or by earning a wild card at the NBHA National Show, Super Show or State Show events. Competitors race against the clock around barrels in a cloverleaf pattern.

The event is run in what is known as the 4-D (four divisions) format.

According to NBHA rules, all riders, regardless of ability, run in the same barrel race. The four divisions are then determined by time brackets. With the 4-D format, the overall fastest time of the race is used to set the time brackets for the four divisions. The first division includes the riders with the fastest times. The second division includes competitors who ran one-half of a second or slower than the overall fastest time. Third division is for riders who were one second or slower and fourth division includes competitors who were two seconds or slower.

Each competitor has two chances to make it to the final round. Tilton and her horse, J-Lea, had their highest finish in the second go-round, in which they finished 278th with a time of 16.0626 seconds. In the first go-round she was 430th with a time of 16.463.

There were more than 1,025 competitors at the teen level.

Tilton will be a senior at Central High this fall and has also played field hockey for the Red Devils.

Plummer and her horse, Didn’t Miss A Thing, were 451st in their second go-round and 454th in their first.

Turcotte and Lady Annes Honour had the top finish of the Maine contingent, placing 115th with a time of 15.665 in the first go-round. She was 693rd in her second go-round after knocking over a barrel.

Britton’s highest finish came in the second go-round of the teen division. Britton and Dancing on Broadway were 605th with a time of 17.34 seconds.

Contestants competed for around $225,000 in cash and prizes.