Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Two Young Guns set sights on high school rodeo championships

Hall and Irwin are point leaders in rodeo events

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

Belen Home turf wasn't much of a help for two of the top local competitors at last weekend's high school rodeo in Belen.

Seth Hall and Shiann Irwin, members of the Valencia County Young Guns high school rodeo club, weren't real happy with their performances at the two-day event held at the Valencia County Fairgrounds and Sheriff's Posse arena.

"I've had the worst two days of my rodeo career," bemoaned Irwin, a 17-year old junior at Los Lunas High School.

Irwin came into the event leading the point standings in pole bending by a wide margin, but the best she could manage was a fifth-place finish on Saturday.

"Other than that, I had a bad day," said Irwin, who had a better day Sunday, placing third in the event.

Irwin, running third in the all-around cowgirl standings, was most disappointed with her times in barrel racing. She's fourth in the point standings but lost ground on the leaders, despite racing on her home turf.

"My barrel horse doesn't like the ground here, so he's not running as well as he usually does," she said, adding that the dirt is soft on top but hard underneath. "He doesn't like to run here. He doesn't want to hurt himself."

Irwin is hoping she can keep her ranking in the event until the end of the year. The top four qualify for the National High School Finals Rodeo, which will be held in July in Springfield, Ill.

Irwin went to nationals in barrels and poles last year, placing 12th overall in pole bending. The Young Gun rider is shooting for a better result this year.

"I want to make it to nationals in those again this year and, hopefully, win nationals in pole bending," she said while watching other cowgirls make their runs through the poles.

Last weekend's event was the Young Guns' home rodeo, and Irwin and the other club members were helping run each event. When one of the poles got knocked down, it was her job to realign it for the next competitor.

"I'm busy helping. We all are helping, and at the end we're hoping to have money raised to go to the state finals," she said.

The Young Guns also hosted a dance Saturday night, the proceeds of which were put toward helping pay expenses for the trip to the state rodeo in Carlsbad in June.

Irwin would sometimes shout encouragement to competitors as they raced through the course.

"C'mon Davree, go, go, go!" she exclaimed as teammate Davree Higdon passed.

She also cheered on other friends she knows from competing in the rodeos held in different cities around the state.

"We all like each other," she replied after being asked how she gets along with the girls she competes against each week. "But it is competition. When it comes right down to it, we're all pretty competitive."

Seth Hall is a competitor, and one of the rising stars on the high school rodeo circuit — not just in New Mexico, but on a national level.

Last year, Hall was leading the calf roping competition at the national high school rodeo headed into the final go.

"I was the number one guy out of 250, and I missed," said the 16-year old, adding that the miscue motivates him to go back and win it this year. "It makes me want it more. Hopefully, I'll go back and be high man again this year and win the whole deal."

Hall's aspirations are even higher than that. His goal is to compete as a professional in the National Finals Rodeo — the biggest rodeo of them all — when he turns 18 in 2008.

"I practice every day," said Hall, a homeschooler from Tomé. "I work hard at it and try to do my best."

Hall is aiming to be known as the best high school cowboy in New Mexico by winning season-long all-around cowboy honors. He entered last weekend's rodeo running a close second to Rankin Lindsey for the distinction but picked up ground at the Belen rodeo by being high-point scorer.

It was the fifth time this season Hall won all-around honors. Still, he wasn't in a happy mood when the dust had cleared Sunday. He and partner Ryan Cook had just failed to record a time in the team roping competition, the rodeo's final event.

Though the rodeo ended on a sour note for Hall, he could take some satisfaction away from the weekend as a whole. He solidified his ranking as the state's top calf roper and steer wrestler by registering third- and fifth-place finishes in the roping event and a pair of third-place finishes in bulldogging. And, though he and Cook failed to score in team roping Sunday, they won the event Saturday.

"Compared to last weekend, it wasn't as good," said Hall, who was all-around cowboy and average winner in calf roping at the March 24-25 rodeo in Truth or Consequences. "Sometimes you have a bad day, and sometimes you don't. Today was a pretty bad day."

Five other Young Guns recorded top 10 finishes over the weekend.

For the boys, Clint King won the steer wrestling Saturday with a time of 6.57. Brock Dearing lassoed fifth- and eighth-place finishes in calf roping.

On the girls side, Cathy Long, who entered the week third in the rankings in barrel racing, had fifth- and eight-place finishes in the event. She did even better in pole bending, placing second Saturday and seventh Sunday.

Tori Cogdill finished fifth in breakaway roping Sunday. She also scored fifth- and sixth-place finishes in barrels.

Shauni Gibson picked up points in barrel racing with a sixth-place result Saturday.

All-around cowgirl honors went to Jordan Muncy of Cedarvale. The national champion in barrel racing last year, Muncy was the average winner in barrels, goat tying and pole bending at the Valencia County rodeo.

E-mail this story Printer-friendly version