High schoolers compete at Lyon County Showdown
By Michael Ashford
Originally published 02:39 p.m., October 22, 2007
Updated 02:39 p.m., October 22, 2007
If it weren’t for a stubborn steer, Jake R. Miller and Cody Saving could have had a much better day Sunday at the Lyon County Showdown rodeo at the Lyon County Fairgrounds.
The duo of Miller and Saving, both of Emporia, competed in the team roping event, and though they eventually managed to rope both of the steer’s feet to finish ninth on Sunday, it took longer than they would have liked.
“The steer that we had wasn’t very good,” Miller said. “It broke real slow out of the box and went to the left almost immediately as it came out of the box, and that made things hard.
“After Cody roped him, he stopped up a little bit, and that put me out too far ahead. That steer went under and out of my sight where I couldn’t get to him. I rebuilt and I managed to rope two feet.”
It was a frustrating end to the weekend for Miller and Saving, as both had hoped to fare better at their hometown rodeo.
“This wasn’t one of our best weekends,” Miller said.
Elsewhere on Sunday, another area high school competitor was busy putting together a solid finish in the barrel racing event.
Cheyenne Veatch and her horse, Tip, turned in the sixth best run of the day on Sunday, a marked improvement over Saturday’s 45th-place run.
“In barrels, I was really happy,” Veatch said. “He (Tip) had some speed today. He was under control and made nice turns.”
Veatch also competed in breakaway roping and pole bending over the weekend, coming in 28th and 29th on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in breakaway while in poles, placing 22nd on Saturday and 36th on Sunday.
“This weekend wasn’t my best weekend, but we’ve been running every weekend and he (Tip) is kind of tired and worn out,” Veatch said. “We’ve done a lot better than what we did here. We were kind of off.”
The top performance of the weekend went to Garrett Benjamin of Emporia, as he placed second in bull riding on Saturday. He followed that with a sixth-place run on Sunday.
Angela Bartley and Taylor Hollond each were strong in the goat tying event on Sunday, as Bartley came in third while Hollond was sixth.
Kellie Farr had the top finish of the weekend for the area competitors in the poles, coming in eighth on Sunday. Linden Stueve of Olpe also was fourth in the team roping event on Saturday.
Kansas High School Rodeo
At Emporia
SATURDAY
Breakaway Roping
24. Jessica Miller, Madison
28. Cheyenne Veatch, Emporia
Pole Bending
14. Caroline Murray, Emporia
15. Caesie Reynolds, Emporia
16. Chelsea Wilson, Cottonwood Falls
17. Kellie Farr, Emporia
19. Samantha Wilkerson, Hartford
22. Cheyenne Veatch
26. Jessica Miller
Team Roping
4. Linden Stueve, Olpe
49. Jake R. Miller, Emporia
54. Cody Saving, Emporia
70. Kaleb Schankie, Madison
Barrels
30. Jessica Miller
35. Caesie Reynolds
45. Cheyenne Veatch
51. Samantha Wilkerson
54. Kellie Farr
Bull Riding
2. Garrett Benjamin
SUNDAY
Breakaway Roping
22. Jessica Miller
29. Cheyenne Veatch
Goat Tying
3. Angela Bartley, Emporia
6. Taylor Hollond
Pole Bending
8. Kellie Farr
14. Samantha Wilkerson
21. Taylor Hollond
25. Jessica Miller
26. Chelsea Wilson
35. Caesie Reynolds
36. Cheyenne Veatch
Team Roping
9. Jake R. Miller and Cody Saving
11. Linden Stueve
Barrels
6. Cheyenne Veatch
22. Kellie Farr
25. Chelsea Wilson
33. Caesie Reynolds
35. Samantha Wilkerson
Bull Riding
6. Garrett Benjamin