Bri Suckla, Stormi Pitman and Kody Gregory have returned from the National High School Rodeo Finals in Gillette, Wyoming.
The NHSFR, which claims to be the world’s largest rodeo featuring approximately 1,500 contestants, outdid itself in 2016.
This year, the event attracted 2,146 entries and 1,638 competitors for its largest field ever.
Suckla, who will be a junior at Dolores High School this year, made her first appearance at the high school finals and competed in breakaway roping. Representing the New Mexico High School Rodeo Association, she completed her first run on Tuesday, July 19 and went through her second on Thursday, July 21.
Although she failed to score in either run, Suckla said that it was still a great experience and that she enjoyed the friendly atmosphere.
“There were actually a lot of people at both the morning and night performances,” she said. “And all of the kids and parents and volunteers that helped work it were all super nice and tried to help. They were never against you, they were there to help you have the best final you could have.”
It was also 2016 Durango graduate Stormi Pitman’s first trip to the national finals, although she had qualified in the past.
Pitman had competed in the International Finals Youth Rodeo in Shawnee, Oklahoma just before making the trek to Gillette, but she said that the NHSFR was even more impressive.
“It was definitely similar to Shawnee,” she explained. “But you could tell when you got to nationals that it was more professional. Everyone there is the top four in the state, everyone is there to win and there’s no messing around and it’s all very serious. I mean, it’s the largest rodeo in the world, so it’s definitely taken seriously.”
Representing the Colorado State High School Rodeo Association in the cutting competition, Pitman made her runs on Sunday, July 17 and Saturday, July 23.
She said that she felt like her opening run was the best she’d ever shown before, but unfortunately, she was scored down for having “Siamese twins,” – or two cows that stuck together – and was also docked for her corner man. After the deductions, she finished with a 62, but her second run went smoother.
“I got three pretty good cuts,” she said. “My horse didn’t work as good as she did the first round, but I did cut better.”
After a better showing, Pitman scored a 135 in her second run to finish with 197 points and in 77th place out of 106 competitors.
Gregory, a 2016 Dolores graduate, qualified for the national finals in his first year competing with the Arizona High School Rodeo Association as the state’s No. 1 bareback rider.
In his first run on Tuesday, judges claimed he slapped the horse so his ride was disqualified. And in his second run on Thursday, his horse failed to truly buck.
Gregory was given another shot at his second ride, but said that the horse on his re-ride didn’t buck well either, and he scored a 56 to finish in 51st place out of 68 riders.
“It didn’t go quite as well as I wanted it to,” he said. “But it was still an awesome experience and a blessing to have gotten to qualify and go experience that.”
“The atmosphere was awesome,” he continued. “It was definitely cool to have gotten to experience the biggest rodeo in the world, competing in it, and also just to have gotten to see and meet so many people from other states that were competing.”
While the NSHFR concluded on the 25th, all three riders intend to continue pursuing their rodeo goals.
Suckla and Pitman both plan to compete in the Durango Fiesta Days rodeo this weekend, and then Suckla starts back up with the high school rodeo in August.
Pitman and Gregory, meanwhile, will move up to the college level.
Pitman plans to rodeo at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas, where she will major in Chemical Engineering, and Gregory intends to rodeo at New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces, where he will major in Agricultural Education.