Lake County’s finest junior rodeo athletes compete on the national stage

GALLUP, N.M. - Three Lake County rodeo athletes got the chance of a lifetime to compete with the best junior rodeo competitors in the country and internationally.

Wyatt Lytton, Abby Knight and Will Powell all qualified for the Junior Rodeo Nationals in Gallup, N.M., after top performances at the state finals held in June. It took them two days to get down to the finals, but by all indications from the kids, it was well worth it.

Nearly 1,000 juniors competed in the event, with kids from all 50 states along with Australia and Canada.

"Some people from Australia were talking about how they had to borrow horses and how tough that was," Knight, a 14-year-old from Charlo, said. "One girl from Hawaii said how she borrowed a horse the day before."

All the Lake County athletes competed in several events apiece, making for busy days.

"It gets you ready for high school rodeo," Knight said.

Knight competed in five events; barrel racing, pole racing, ribbon roping, goat roping and breakaway roping.

"With five events, it felt like you were up every performance," Knight said.

Powell competed in breakaway roping, ribbon roping with Knight as his partner, chute dogging and team roping. Lytton competed in team roping and jackpot roping

"It was tiring," Powell, a 13-year-old from St. Ignatius, said.

Up at 6:30 a.m. to take care of the horses, the rodeo nationals started at 9 a.m. and performances varied throughout the day, ending at 7 p.m.

"It was fun to see who you were matched up against," Lytton, a 14-year-old from Pablo, said. "The competition was fun to know that you were going to have to be on your game."

Then the jackpot roping would start at 9 p.m. Powell and Lytton both competed in the late event that had as many as 50 teams competing.

"We'd get back at midnight," Powell said.

Cut right into Red Rock Canyon in Gallup, the rodeo arena provided a packed crowd to cheer on the competitors.

"It's kind of one of those things, you're nervous, but you're excited," Lytton said. "Right before your run, everything gets really quiet."

Overall, thanks to performances from Lytton, Powell and Knight, the state of Montana ranked eighteenth in the country. They also took home a national championship in one very important sport.

Tug-of-war.

With five girls and five boys on each team, the state of Montana vanquished Idaho, Utah and then Nebraska to take first. All the kids credited the win to heart and determination, with a little strategy mixed in.

"Parents were watching and telling us how other teams were winning," Knight said. "The kid that was the anchor had a huge rash."

Some of the Lake County athletes decided to sit out for the competition.

"I was being a cheerleader," Powell said.

Montana wasn't done after the tug-of-war, placing third in the volleyball competition.

"Before the volleyball, we had a huge sand fight and I got in the middle of it," Knight said. "It was caked in my braces."

When the rodeo wasn't going on, there was plenty to do with dances, egg tosses and tie-dying. There was also the extracurricular activity of speeding around with the golf carts rented out to the competitors. Even though they were too young to drive them without a driver's license, there were a few friends and family that could. Add speed junkies to machines and you have an interesting result.

"I was not the one on the golf cart," Lytton quickly pointed out, but then admitted that at least one golf cart had been flipped by the end of the first day.

Powell and Lytton also passed the time by roping a dummy calf and wandering around, visiting other state team camps.

"It was kind of nice to have your friends there, it's more comfortable," Lytton said.

Although it was a competition, that didn't stop all of the competitors from getting to know one another.

"Rodeo is a family sport, when you get there it's family, " Lytton's mother, Pam, said. "It's not about digging at the other person."

In fact the only bad thing about the competition was the goathead plant that seemed to permeate the area around the rodeo grounds. These thorny bushes drop single-seeded nutlets that are like thumbtacks for exposed skin.

"You couldn't go barefooted or put your hand on the ground," Powell said, while showing small puncture marks on his hand from such an encounter.

That didn't discourage the athletes though, and the campsite for the Montana team was popular thanks to the rodeo moms who used a converted horse trailer as a chuck wagon for the hungry athletes.

"We'd mosey on over to the trailer," Lytton said. "And pretty soon people from the other states were coming."

All three felt that Montana represented their state well, and that it was an event that they'll never forget.

"It was something I was glad I did, it was something that. I will always remember," Lytton said. "We got to see so many different places and different ways of life."

Junior Rodeo Nationals

Final overall standings

Barrell racing (out of 149)

72. Abby Knight, Charlo, 35.82

Boys' breakaway average (out of 89)

52. Will Powell, St Ignatius, 3.411

Girls' goat tying average (out of 136)

78. Abby Knight, Charlo, 39.898

Team roping average (out of 61)

3. Will Powell, St Ignatius, and Brandon Yerian, Corvallis, 37.78

All-around rookie cowboy

Reserve Champion - Will Powell, St Ignatius, 600

Boys Team Standings

15. Montana, 1810

Girls Team Stadings

18. Montana, 870