Crowning a cowgirl queen

By Heather Johnson, Courtesy of The North Platte Telegraph.

McKenzie Haley, Miss Rodeo America (left), pins the Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2012 sash on Sierra Peterson during a ceremony on Wednesday evening at the Wild West Arena.

Sierra Peterson is Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2012. The 21-year-old Ashland native was crowned June 15, 2011, at the Wild West Arena during the first performance of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo.

Four contestants competed in the pageant this year, including Kathleen Woerman of Norfolk and Amanda Pflasterer of Grand Island.

Peterson swept all but one of the categories. First runner-up Dayna Olson of North Platte won the congeniality award. Peterson claimed top honors in horsemanship, speech, appearance, personality, photogenics and the written test.

Her responsibilities will include traveling thousand of miles across the country representing Nebraska, the pageant and professional rodeo. Peterson will not officially take over as Miss Rodeo Nebraska until January to give Miss Rodeo Nebraska 2011, Becky Grimm a chance to finish her reign and compete at nationals. In the meantime, Peterson will fill in at events Grimm is unable to attend.

She is currently attending Oklahoma Christian University studying mass communications and public relations. Her goal is to work as a communications specialist for a sponsor of rodeos where she will continue to promote the sport.

Her activities include Pi Zeta Phi and serving as production editor of the university’s newspaper. Peterson is a mentor at Stanley Hupfeld Academy and participates in volleyball and basketball.

She also enjoys spending time with family and attending ropings and rodeos. Reading, dancing and helping with local 4-H groups are also on her activity list.

Ericson youth is high school rodeo queen… Senior is tomboy, hunter

By Ruth Nicolaus, courtesy of the Adams County Ag Society

Joni Qualm may wear rhinestones and use hairspray, but she’s just as comfortable with a ball cap and an orange safety vest at 5 a.m., hunting deer.

Two-time Nebraska High School Rodeo Queen Joni Qualm. / Photo courtesy of Adams County Historical Society

 The Ericson resident, who is a senior in high school, has used her share of hairspray in the past two years, serving as the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 Nebraska State High School Rodeo Queen. She also competes in high school rodeo in breakaway roping, team roping and cutting, and grew up wanting to be a rodeo queen.

Her mom, Jane Qualm, served on various rodeo queen committees, so she spent lots of time with rodeo queens. “I grew up watching them, the modeling, the autographs, the pretty smiles. I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

She practiced her horsemanship, knowing that was one area that a rodeo queen is judged upon. She became an accomplished horsewoman, but “the problem was turning me into a queen and not so much of a tomboy,” she laughs.

Qualm, who is a senior at Wheeler Central High School in Bartlett, loves to hunt as much as she loves being a rodeo queen. She owns five guns and hunts deer, geese, ducks, turkeys, coons and coyotes. The biggest deer she ever got was a 9×7 nontypical whitetail, which is mounted and hanging in her relatives’ hunting lodge in Pratt, S.D.

She has competed three times at the Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo in Hastings, where she also won the queen title twice, and has gone on to represent Nebraska at the national high school rodeo queen level. She has one more opportunity to compete in Hastings June 23-25, for her senior year.

This fall she will attend Dodge City (Kan.) Community College on a volleyball scholarship. Qualm had offers for rodeo scholarships at other schools but chose to play college volleyball. “I can rodeo forever,” she says, “but you can only play volleyball for so long.” After she graduates with a registered nursing degree, she may come back to Nebraska and compete for the rodeo queen title at the Burwell, Neb. rodeo and for the Miss Rodeo Nebraska title.

Being a rodeo queen has been fun, she says. “I consider myself a big people person so this job is easy and fun for me.”

She is the daughter of Bill and Jane Qualm. In addition to Joni, there are four other Qualm daughters: Jayna, Jessie, Jenita and Jentry. They live near Ericson, Neb.

Nebraska 4-H Profile

By Noel Ochoa, Veterinary Technology Student, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture

Twelve years can bring about a lot of change, growth, and experience for a 4-H member in the horse industry. For Katelyn Sughroue of Bartley, Neb., it has brought her a very long way from showing horses to her Rodeo Queen title in Furnas County.

Katelyn Sughroue / Photo by Peter Hammer

Sughroue is currently a senior at Southwest Public High School. There at Southwest, she participates in speech, track, golf, cross country, and FFA. Her plans include attending college at Colby, Kans., or Curtis, Neb., majoring in Agribusiness. She is also interested in becoming an Animal Geneticist. In the distant future, she plans on returning to the general Bartley area and having a farm, where she’d like to raise cattle and a few horses. Another goal and dream of hers is to ride in the NFR in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Katelyn Sughroue / Photo by Peter Hammer

Sughroue participates in 4-H Barrel Racing, Poles, Trail, Western Pleasure, Halter, and Showmanship. She owns three of her own horses: Bunny, who is a Quarter Horse/Persian; Fancy who is a Quarter Horse; and Coon, who is a Quarter Horse/Morgan. She has never had a trainer ride her horses, but she is very grateful for the help she has had while training her horses from many people, including Jeanie Mueller, Joe Teter, and Darla Ruppert.

Most of the shows Sughroue attends are about 45 minutes away in McCook, Neb. She has been quite successful in her work with horses, earning her quite a few wins. In 2009 she placed 2nd at the NBHA Nebraska State Youth 4D and qualified for the World Championships in Georgia. The next year, she was the NBHA Nebraska State Youth 4D Champion, qualified for World Championships, won Youth 2D District 06 NBHA, and won Open 4D district 06 NBHA. She has also been nominated for 2010 4-H’er of the year and has been treasurer of Rocketeers 4-H club for the past 4 years.

Katelyn Sughroue / Photo by Peter Hammer

Sughroue loves the fact that while teaching horses you can also learn from them. “The way that they know so much and can truly sense your feelings, really amazes me,” she said. “I also love how they have as many different personalities as people do.” When she first started asking her parents to allow her to have a horse, they replied, “We’ve got a four wheeler, ain’t that enough fun for you?”

It all started the summer of her eighth grade year, when she and a friend, Skyler McConville, went out for a ride. It was her first time horse riding. They took a six mile ride that day which was “a lot for a first timer.” Her hard work and dedication have brought her a long way. With the horses at her side, and the friends and family that support her, many more great wins and fun times are yet to come.

Winners announced in the Hoot Gibson Rodeo in Tekamah

By Mark Jackson/Lee Newspapers

Morgan Kobs, Hoot Gibson Rodeo Queen

 A Blair teenager was named queen of the 51st annual Hoot Gibson Memorial Rodeo recently, continuing a long line of rodeo royalty.     

Morgan Kobs, 18, was crowned prior to the June 4 rodeo performance. She emerged from a field of eight coming under the eye of judge Luryn Peterson, the 2004 Hoot Gibson Rodeo queen.

Judging was based on western dress and horsemanship using 4-H rules.

Kobs, the daughter of Steve and Audra Kobs, graduated from Blair High School in May. She is active in 4-H and FFA where she shows horses and hogs. Kobs plans to attend Northeast Community College in Norfolk this fall, majoring in ag business.

Kobs was runner-up in 2009. Her sister, Bailey, was queen in 2008 while their grandmother, Maxine (Bailey) Ray was the rodeo queen in 1961.

Runner-up honors went to 18-year-old Desiree King of Oakland. It was the third time King had finished second in the contest.

King, the daughter of Terry and Sally King, just completed her freshman year at Northeast Community College where she majors in animal science. She intends to become an animal nutritionist and equine specialist.

Calf Roping at the Hoot Gibson Memorial Rodeo

The largest approved rodeo on the Mid-States Rodeo circuit, a nice prize purse and top-quality stock from the Williams and Long Company again attracted many of the organization’s best competitors.

Calf Roping at the Hoot Gibson Memorial Rodeo

Tri-County Saddle Club, owners and operators of the Hoot Gibson Rodeo, partnered with local sponsors to provide a $500 added purse to the winners in the bull riding and saddle and bareback bronc events. For the steer wrestling, calf roping, team roping, mixed team roping, breakaway roping, and barrel racing events, a $325 added money purse was available. In the added money events, competitors came from all across Nebraska, as well as Iowa, South Dakota, Missouri and Colorado, for a chance at the prize purse.

Barrel Racing at the Hoot Gibson Memorial Rodeo