High school rodeo team to play host in Ronan Saturday

They've strutted their stuff around the state, and now they'll get the chance to do so in front of the hometown crowd, as the Mission Valley High School rodeo team hosts its fall rodeo in Ronan this Saturday.

Saturday's action will include team members from around the county, including Jessie Picchietti, Krista O'Reilly and Lynnsey Wieder from Arlee, Reese and Riley Bailey and Barb Pfeifer from St. Ignatius, Rochelle Toussaint and Naomi Knight from Charlo, Ronan's Levi Guenzler and Brett Harris, and Angela Schuman from Polson.

Picchietti is currently third in the standings for barrel racing, first in goat tying and breakaway roping, and leads the girls all-around category by almost 40 points. She's tied for ninth in team-roping points, too, according to the latest Montana High School Rodeo Association standings.

"I've gone to all the rodeos that I could. I'm still going even with the gas prices," Picchietti said. "I hope I do good this weekend. I haven't been able to practice as much with all the rain, but I've ridden in that Ronan arena a lot so I'm pretty comfortable there."

On the boys side, Guenzler is fifth in steer wrestling and Harris is tied for 10th. They are a team-roping pair after Levi's sister, Sarah, headed off to college this fall.

One thing all of the rodeo members have had to battle are soaring gas prices, which has put a crimp into their travel plans. In a normal season, they and their families spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars in fuel costs, and the recent spike from Hurricane Katrina has only made it worse.

Other students such as Schuman and Pfeifer are playing volleyball and other sports, which involves significant team traveling on weekends.

However, they'll have home field advantage starting this Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m., with the first round of rodeo action, followed by a one-hour break, and then another rodeo in the afternoon.

For several of the participants who started their freshman year at high school recently, this will be their first high school rodeo, although not their first rodeo experience.

"I'm a little nervous, but I'm excited also. I've been training for quite a few years," said Toussaint, a student at Charlo High School.

Toussaint and Knight will both be competing in barrel racing and pole bending. They both said they've been training hard for the past couple of years.

"I'm not nervous. It's just another rodeo. I've done the Arlee rodeo a couple of times, so I know what to expect," said Knight, who has been training with her horse, Lanky, for the past couple of years.