The Colorado State High School and Junior High Rodeo Association seasons came to an end at the state finals.
The Ute Mountain Rodeo team was represented by three members at the Colorado Junior High Division State Finals, which were held in Monte Vista on June 3-4.
The top four in each event for the year go the Junior High National finals Rodeo in Gallup, N.M.
Durangos Riley Van Solen, in chute dogging, placed third in the second go round, second in the average, and second for the year overall. With his second-place finish, Van Solen earned a spot on the national team. He is in Gallup competing at the JHNFR. It concludes Sunday.
Other Ute Mountain junior high participants were Cayce Lockhart and Cade Van Solen. Lockhart, in girls barrel racing, placed eighth in the first go round, sixth in the second go round, fourth in the average and 10th for the year.
Cade Van Soelen, in team roping with his brother Riley, finished 19th for the season.
For high school, seven members attended the Colorado High School Rodeo Association State Finals in Craig on June 15-19.
The finals consist of two go rounds and a short go. Season points earned are added with the two go rounds from the state finals. The top 15 in each event are allowed to compete in the short go. The top four in each event at the state level earn spot on the national team and will go to the National High School Finals Rodeo, the largest outdoor rodeo in the world, in Gillette, Wyo., July 17-23. Places five through 10 will compete at the Silver States International Rodeo in Winnemucca, Nev., July 4-9. Four Ute Mountain high school members qualified for a national rodeo.
Tanner Lockhart, of Lewis, competed in saddle bronc riding. The Dolores High School freshman took fifth in the first go, won the second go, placed fifth in the average and finished third for the season to qualify for the NHSFR.
I felt pretty good being a freshman, you know, Lockhart said about his selection for the NHSFR. I rode both my horses in the first and second go, but (got) bucked off in the short go. I had a feeling I wasnt going to make it. When I got back to the office, they said that I did (make the NHSFR). That kind of took a load off my shoulders.
Lockhart has competed in Gallup when he was in middle school, so riding on the big stage is nothing new to him. He is heading to Gillette to do just that, compete.
Going into it, Id like to probably try to cover both my horses. Its really all I can do. (Just) try to the best of my ability, he said. Id really like to win it if I could, by the time Im a senior.
In addition to making the NHSFR field, Lockhart will ride saddle bronc on the Colorado Rocky Mountain team at the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Okla., July 10-15. IFYR team positions are by invitation only. Lockhart will be one of three saddle bronc riders on the Colorado Rocky Mountain team. He practices saddle bronc riding in Waterflow, N.M., and has attended the Branson, Mo., based Sankey Rodeo School twice and credits coaches Darrell Triplett and Jeff Hummel.
Trevor Holiday finished 10th overall for the year in bull riding to qualify for the SSIR in Winnemucca. Fellow bull riders Dax Koskie and Wyatt Mattausch recorded 15th and 16th place finishes for the year respectively.
Emma Reim, of Dolores, did well in girls cutting. The freshman placed second in the short go and fourth for the year to take her place in the NHSFR.
It was exciting to know that I qualified because you get to go to Gillette. Ive never been to Gillette. I think it would be fun to go to something that big nationally, Reim said about going to the NHSFR.
This is Reims first year of competitive rodeo, as she competes in reining as well. Reim was also named the Ute Mountain Rodeo 2011 Junior Queen. Reims rookie season will include a trip to the American Quarter Horse Youth Association (AQHYA) Youth World Cutting Show in Oklahoma City, Okla., Aug. 3-13.
I hope that I can keep doing the cutting, because its something that I really like to do, Reim said about the Western riding style equestrian event, in which one must provide their own horse. Hauling to the rodeos was fun. Ive never went over the Wolf Creek Pass. Going to all the rodeo towns, that was fun to see everything.
Kacey Schurr, in barrel racing, placed seventh in the second go, eighth in the average and took ninth for the year to qualify for the SSIR. She also placed in the short go in goat tying to place 14th overall.
Savannah Simmons finished 14th and 20th for the year in pole bending and barrel racing. Simmons is a senior member who received two honorary scholarships.
Reach Bobby Abplanalp at bobbya@cortezjournal.com.