Blind Draw, Big Payoff: Jae Murphy & Emery Crouse Win the 2026 #8 Youth World Championship Title at the 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals

Jae Murphy, of Atco, New Jersey, and Emery Crouse, of Hempstead, Texas, topped the #8 Youth class, sorting 21 head in 169.02 seconds over three rounds at the 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals in Fort Worth, Texas, for a $1,528 winners check.

A Draw That Paid Off

Murphy and Crouse were paired as a random draw team and had never ridden together, or met, before the class began. It turned out to be one of the toughest draws of the week: the #8 Youth class opened with 86 teams, cut to a top 20 for the second go, and only nine teams returned for the short round.

Out of those nine short-round runs, just three came back clean, and Murphy and Crouse’s 21-head run was the fastest of them. It was, as Amy Wheatley noted on the EQN Sports Desk, the second Texas-New Jersey team to win a youth title at the Finals that week, matching #18 Rated Youth champions Mandie O’Neil and Clara Mas. Crouse, who had been to only about five shows before Fort Worth, said she would have been happy just to place.

First World Finals Strategies

Murphy, 11, has been ranch sorting for three years, after starting out in barrel racing and pole bending with a different trainer. In the Youth #8, she rode two different horses to get the job done: Jacque Smith’s horse, Cattys Reyofiridessa (Catty Hawk x Tanga Rey), known as “Cruel,” for the first two rounds—Smith, an RSNC producer in Waterford Works, New Jersey, hauled Murphy 21 hours from the Northeast to compete—and Joel Lesh’s horse, Peek A Cash (Reyzin The Cash x Peek A Cat), for the final round. Cruel had already gone to work for Smith in the #10 Masters that day, so Murphy switched to the fresher horse. Throughout the class, Murphy and Crouse employed a Ranch Hand strategy with Murphy in the gate and Crouse on herd.

“I decided to do it because it would’ve been better for Emery just to stay in the herd, and I had a good horse for it,” Murphy said of the decision.

The 2026 Cinch RSNC World Finals was a first for both riders, and they were challenged by a tough herd.

“Some cows were fine and then, the other ones, you had to go for because they were slow and the other ones were just too fast,” Murphy explained.

Staying Put in the Herd

Crouse said swapping positions between rounds is usually faster, but doing so pushes cattle toward the gate and makes it more risky.

“She was really good in the gate,” Crouse said, complimenting Murphy, “so I decided to stay in the herd. The herd is kind of easier than the gate, because you’re not really getting all the cows.”

Crouse, 13, also finished fourth in the class with Sophie Bernhagen to win an additional $478 team check. Crouse took up ranch sorting only a year ago, after six years in the saddle and four spent barrel racing. Her own horse, Peeka Glo CT (Peek A Pep x Dual Glo Tammy CT), a 15-year-old off the cutting pen that she’s had about six months, is built for exactly that job.

“She is okay at the gate, but she is excellent at sorting,” Crouse said.

Glo’s biggest asset might be her temperament.

“She’s really sweet, and she won’t hurt anybody,” Crouse said.

Paying It Forward

Little of the $1,528 winners check will stay in either rider’s pocket. Murphy and Crouse both said their shares will go back into entry fees for the rest of the week. Both riders left Fort Worth with new Professional’s Choice trophy buckles and world champion jackets to show for their win in the #8 Youth.

#8 Youth — 2026 World Finals Champions

Payouts

From The Ranch Sorter

Summer 2026 Issue

This article appears in the Summer 2026 issue of The Ranch Sorter.

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