Saturday, October 21, 2006

Young Guns rodeo team puts on final fall show

Local prep rodeo club lends a hand in staging final fall event in Belen

T.S. Last News-Bulletin Sports Editor; tlast@news-bulletin.com

Belen Reckon it figures, the high school rodeo fall season would end on a winter-like weekend.

Under mostly overcast skies at a rain-soaked Valencia County Fairgrounds in Belen, 132 cowboys and cowgirls from all around the state competed for points and prize money at the New Mexico High School Directors Rodeo. Among them were more than a dozen members of the Valencia County Young Guns Rodeo Club, which helped stage the event.

The Young Guns performed well on their home turf. Seth Hall and Shiann Irwin were average winners in calf roping and pole bending, respectively. Several other local competitors turned in top 10 finishes at the two-day event, held Oct. 14-15.

Despite gusty winds that sent chills down shirt collars and occasionally sent hats flying, the young riders and ropers wouldn't want to spend their weekend any other way. They enjoy the competition and being around people their own age who share a common interest.

"This whole rodeo association, we're all one big family pretty much," said Hall. "We all come to hang out for the weekend and have a good time. Everybody's helping each other; it's a good deal. It's a good place to be."

All in the family

Connie Irwin is an adult leader of the local rodeo club. She, too, referred to the association as a family.

"It's a huge family. Everybody comes together to support each other," she said.

At the time, Irwin's own daughter, Shiann, was walking through the grandstand selling raffle tickets.

"The whole rodeo association is raising money to help Sidney and Jimmy Green," Connie Irwin explained. "Their house was flooded in Lemitar, and they didn't have flood insurance. So the kids are helping raise money for them."

The Irwins joined the family that is the NMHSRA in 1999 when Connie's son Jesse Griego was a freshman in high school. When Jesse graduated, Shiann was old enough to join the circuit. Now, Connie and her husband Grant travel around the state with Shiann, niece Shauni Gibson and their horses in tow.

The Irwins journeyed all the way to Springfield, Ill., in July for the National High School Rodeo Finals. Shiann qualified for the national event in barrel racing and pole bending.

After placing first and second in pole bending over the weekend, Shiann Irwin is second in the state standings this year. She's also running second in barrel racing and is fourth in the all-around cowgirl standings.

Teammate Cathy Long of Veguita, who also qualified for the national rodeo last season, is fifth in barrel racing and eighth all around.

"Last year, we had 12 kids, and six of them went to nationals. So Valencia County has an awesome team," Connie said.

The local rodeo club is a family within the larger family. While Connie Irwin is considered the adult leader, she said the Young Guns themselves really call the shots.

"It's really a kids club," she said. "They run the club, they make their own decisions, and we're just here to help keep things going."

Opening with a bang

The Young Guns had a hand in putting on last weekend's rodeo. They opened the show with a grand entry led by 2006 New Mexico High School Rodeo Queen Ashley TenBrink, who carried the American flag. Hall, last year's Rookie of the Year on the high school circuit, was afforded the honor of carrying the state flag.

While some of the other Young Gun riders carrying smaller flags spelling out "New Mexico" lined up in formation in the center of the arena, TenBrink circled on horseback while the national anthem was played. A welcoming statement written by the queen was also read during the ceremony.

"This is the last fall season rodeo, and that's why I really wanted to have a big grand entry and get a lot of participation," TenBrink said afterward. "The Young Guns rodeo club is helping the directors with the rodeo, so I really wanted them to be spotlighted in it."

TenBrink, who also competes in breakaway roping, goat tying and barrel racing, earned her crown as a freshman at the state rodeo last spring. The queen competition involves horsemanship, public speaking, a personal interview and modeling.

As queen, TenBrink represented the state of New Mexico at the national rodeo, an experience she'll never forget.

"It opened my eyes to a whole different world," said the 15-year-old from Los Lunas. "The support from people that helped all of us get there and the support from the families was amazing, so that's why I've come to love the sport even more than just riding my horse and roping cows."

While mud and large puddles made maneuvering around the grounds difficult, and the sun only made occasional breaks through the clouds, none of that put a damper on the event.

"You would think it would," TenBrink said, "but all the contestants that come here really have a passion for the sport. I don't think anything would keep them away."

Top Gun

Seth Hall truly has a passion for rodeo. He spends almost all his weekends at a rodeo somewhere. This one just happens to be close to home.

"I do a lot of rodeos. Last weekend was my first weekend home all summer. I'm gone every weekend," said the 16-year-old. "It's probably going to settle down a little bit, but I won't quit on the weekends."

Like a lot of the competitors, rodeo is in Hall's blood.

"I grew up with it with my dad — he rodeoed a lot. Ever since I was old enough, I was on a horse and roping every day," he said.

Hall still ropes every day at his home in Los Lunas.

"I rope in the mornings, I do school in the afternoon and I rope again in the afternoon," said Hall, who added that his home-school schedule fits his cowboy lifestyle. "You get a lot more time to rope. You have more time to practice, and you get a lot of schooling done too."

Hall, who won a calf roping national championship in the junior high school division two years ago, also competes in team roping with his buddy Ryan Cook, and steer wrestling.

"I like the calf roping best. It's what I've been doing longest, and I enjoy it a lot," Hall said. "Steer wrestling, I just started that this last year, and it's coming along really good. I'm really starting to enjoy that too."

Hall had a good weekend. He won Sunday's calf roping in a time of 9.72 seconds. Combined with a fourth-place finish on Saturday, he was the event's average winner and leads the point standings in the event.

Unlike other high school athletes, the cowboys and girls that participate in rodeo earn prize money if they place high in the standings. But winning an event on a weekend might only render a $200 payback, which barely covers the entry fees.

Hall, who ranks second in the all-around cowboy standings, hopes that someday his take-home pay will be a lot more than that.

"These deals, the high school rodeos, they give a good payback, but it pays your weekend wages for going and having fun and doing what you like to do," he said. "But if you go to the big rodeos you get paid a lot, and one of these days it'll be my living if I just work my way to the top."

Though Hall will keep practicing on weekends, he and the rest of the high school rodeo family will take a break from competition for a few months. The spring season starts in March.

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