Cowgirls headed to nationals

Ashley Knight, Jaylynn Garrison, Emily Schall prove they are

among the best rodeo athletes in the state

BOZEMAN - Even though she's going to be a sophomore next year, Charlo's Abby Knight took home the Montana State pole-bending crown at the state finals last weekend in Bozeman and won the Rookie All-Around award as well.

Knight, who went to the National Finals in junior rodeo last season, took first in the championship go-around run with a time of 20.96. She also won the year-end standings for the state in the event.

"It got me ready for this kind of event," Knight said of junior rodeo. "There's not that many freshman that come up to the state finals."

While Knight said the atmosphere of the high school state finals was much bigger that the junior finals and it was a bit overwhelming, she still performed well and is now headed to Gillette, Wyo. next month for nationals.

Also going with Knight will be Arlee's Jaylyn Garrison, who took fourth in goat-tying for the championship go with a time of 8.70, qualifying for nationals and finishing in the year-end standings with second place.

Senior Emily Schall took fifth in barrels, making her run with an 18:36 time.

Polson's Wyatt Lytton won fourth place in average for state finals with his heeler Colton Johns, getting times of 15.00 and 23.66.

The state finals, which had hundreds of Montana's best rodeo athletes compete over five days, is something you can compare to a post-season in rodeo.

While the atmosphere is always positive in the sport of rodeo, with a berth at nationals on the line, many of the competitors feel the heat.

"They try to take as much of the pressure off you as possible," Arlee's Cody Sheridan said. "But there's still pressure."

And that can sometimes get between a rodeo athlete and their shot at nationals. Garrison said that it can sometimes be nerve-wracking.

"You can feel everybody's anxiety. Everybody is anxious to compete," she said.

And that competitive spirit is compounded by the fact that other than team roping, rodeo is an individual sport. Well, kind of, there is one other very important teammate.

"It's all on your shoulders. It's you and your horse," Jessica Reed said. "It takes a lot of self-discipline."

The athletes have different ways of dealing with the stress of a bigger stage.

"I just kind of take a deep breath to stay standing and take it step by step," Polson's Lexi Bagnell, who qualified for the championship round at the state finals for pole bending, said.

For some of the younger kids on the Mission Valley Rodeo team, it's their first experience on the high school level.

"It's kind of stressful on the first day getting use to everything," Jo Lein said of the state finals. "It can be stressful but it's not that bad. It's a great experience. This is my first year so it's kind of a learning process."

The state finals also up the ante on the kind of stock the athletes have to deal with.

"All the stock is about the same as the pro rodeos," Sheridan said. "It's not as easy to rope so you don't have some fluke. To move on to nationals you have to be able to rope good."

When the rodeo athletes weren't out in the arena they had plenty to do with their free time.

"It's awesome," Emily Schall said. "There's a lot of activities."

From Scrabble inside the rodeo arena to a hypnotist to barbeques and dances, there was no lack of entertainment. It was also a good time for everyone to socialize.

"Since we have so many friends there we just try to catch up and hang out," Garrison said.

While during the rodeo regular season, most events are just over the weekend, the state finals last five days meaning that competitors are camping out longer than normal.

"I actually like it, getting away from things," Charlie Lytle said.

However, the extended stay does present some challenges like staying in a camper.

"It's hard because you don't want to forget anything you need," Garrison said.

While some of the Mission Valley rodeo team members were at their last state high school finals, it was a first for others and they'll certainly remember the experience and use it for next year.

"You just try and get better and there's always room for improvement," Lytton said. "I just couldn't be more thankful being able to do it and having all my friends there too."

Heading to Nationals

Abby Knight - Pole bending

Jaylynn Garrison - Goat-tying

Emily Schall - Barrels (Silverstate)

Tara Sheridan, Pam Lytton and

Rocky Knight were a big help in putting together this article.