Tanner Lockhart said he was going to the Colorado State High School Rodeo Finals to ride and ride, he did.
Lockhart rode saddle bronc as a member of the Ute Mountain Rodeo team in Lamar on June 6-10. He did Cortez proud, capturing four champion buckles, two trophy jackets, cash winnings, gift certificates and three college scholarships.
Lockharts performance at the state finals locked him a spot at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs, Wyo., July 1521. The saddle bronc rider finished second for the year overall in Colorado.
In the first go at Lamar, Lockhart won first-place with a score of 69. In the second go, he again won first with a score of 69. These two wins qualified Lockhart in the short go, which he won with a score of 70. Lockhart also placed first in the average.
Lockhart came into state competition in third-place with 10 points behind first. Even with his wins at the state finals, he ended up 6.5 points behind first. At second-place, Lockhart finished as reserve champion in the saddle bronc division.
The youngster was coached by Darrell Triplett, Jeff Hummel and Shawn Buckley.
Tanners mother is Destri Lockhart, of Mancos, and his grandparents are Dick and Phyllis Lockhart of Lewis.
Two other Ute Mountain Rodeo members qualified to go to the NHSFR.
Emma Reim and Jake Cruzan will represent Colorado in the girls and boys cutting division. Although Reim had no scores for the state finals rodeo, she had enough points to finish in the top-four of her event, which is the cut for National Finals qualification. Cruzan placed second in the second go with a score of 69 and was fourth in the average, where he finished for the year. Cruzan also competed in dally team roping, along with partner Harlie Williams, finishing 11th-place for the season.
Kacey Schurr, a graduated senior from Dolores High School, was awarded a $2,500 rodeo scholarship. Schurrs horse, Lucy, was honored with the Horse of the Year award. This honor came with another $250 scholarship.
At the state finals in barrel racing, Schurr placed eighth in both the first and second go, seventh in the short go and seventh in the average. She ended the year at seventh in barrel racing. In goat tying, Schurr placed sixth in the first go and ninth in the second go to finish ninth for the year.
Dax Koskie had a score of 60 in bareback riding for the short go, which gave him third-place. He placed fourth in the average, ending the year in fifth. Koskie also competed in bull riding this year. Teammate Trevor Holaday was not able to cover any bulls at the finals, but he finished the year in eighth-place in bull riding.
Koskie, Holaday and Schurr all qualified for the Silver States International Rodeo in Winnemucca, Nev. This rodeo is for contestants finishing fifth- through-10th-place in their state or Canadian province.
Schurr and Holaday will also ride with Colorado teams at the International Youth Finals Rodeo (the richest youth rodeo in the world) in Shawnee, Okla., later this summer.
Wylie Kirks suffered serious head injuries at a bull riding school in Maxwell, N.M., just two weeks prior to the Colorado state finals. Unfortunately, he was not able to finish his year and compete at the state finals.
The 64th annual National High School Finals Rodeo will feature more than 1,500 contestants from 41 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia. It is the worlds largest rodeo.
In addition to competing for more than $200,000 in prizes, NHSFR contestants will also be competing for more than $350,000 in college scholarships and the chance to be named the NHSFR champion.
The NHSFR offers a large variety of activities for contestants throughout the week. Each participant has the opportunity to meet new friends from around the world.
Coverage of the event will be telecast live on RFD-TV. People can also catch all of the NHSFR live via iHigh.com on its audio web cast.
Complete results will be posted daily on the National High School Rodeo Association website at www.nhsra.org.