Born in 1975 in Arizona, Sherry Cervi came naturally to rodeo sport as the daughter of Rodeo Hall of Famer and Ben Johnson Award winner Mel Potter and three-time Wrangler NFR qualifier Wendy Potter. She joined the WPRA in 1986 and first qualified for the Wrangler NFR in 1994.
Cervi has thus far captured four world champion barrel racing titles and qualified 16 times for NFR competition. She owns the WPRA money record for the barrel-racing event with more than $2.7 million in career earnings, and she was a 2003 inductee into the Pima County (Arizona) Hall of Fame. Aboard her palomino mare, Stingray, Cervi has cemented her legacy as one of the great barrel racers of all time.
In recognition of her illustrious barrel racing career and her inspirational role to up-and-coming distaff contenders, Sherry Cervi was awarded the Tad Lucas Memorial Award for 2014. Of Tad Lucas, Cervi observed, “She set a great example for women to follow and was definitely a pioneer.”
