Kids start the local rodeo season off with a bang

The Blaine County Fair is like any other fair, there are a lot of reasons to go inside and take a stroll. Of course, the food is always a good reason, but Wednesday night, the Blaine County Kids Rodeo gave fairgoers another very good reason to be in attendance.

There may not have been any bull or bronc riding, but the Blaine County Kids Rodeo had just about everything else, including flag racing, goat tying, steer riding, sheep riding, goat ribbon tying, barrel racing, chute dogging, calf roping, breakaway roping, team roping and pole bending. And the cowgirls and cowboys that took part in the competition were broken down into three different age groups: minis (ages 4-8), juniors (ages 9-13) and seniors (14-18).

The minis age group took part in four different events. There was the barrel racing, which saw Hadley Not Afraid of Hays take home first place, while Hayden Strauser of Havre was second and Kruz Ereaux of Hays was third. However, Ereaux won the goat tying and finished second in the flag race, which was also won by Not Afraid.

Aspen Burcham of Chinook won the sheep riding, followed by Wyatt Tallent of Chinook and Kyus Bradley of Harlem, who each tied for second and Killian Liddle of Chinook, who finished third. Ryan Bell of Chinook was second in goat ribbon tying and third in flag racing. Gus Buck of Chinook, also placed in goat ribbon tying, finishing third.

In the juniors, Mary Gibson of Havre was one of the top performers as she was first in goat tying and second in pole bending. Savanna Jones of Harlem also placed in multiple events, winning pole bending and finishing runner up in goat tying and barrel racing, which was won by Josie Robbins, who also was third in pole bending.

Kadin Racine of Hays won flag racing, Cassie Gibson of Havre was second in the same event and Kale Ereaux, also of Hays, was third. Kale Ereaux won breakaway roping in the juniors, while Lane Snider won the juniors steer riding. Kenzie Kallenberger of Havre also finished third in barrel racing. Grace Buck of Chinook matched her with a third-place showing in goat tying.

The seniors age group also saw some solid performances from local cowboys and cowgirls as Austin Miller of Havre won calf roping, but also finished second in chute dogging behind Riley Wiegand of Chinook. Kassidy Pursley of Big Sandy also took home the top prize in pole bending, while Katelin Harvey of Gilford came in second. Ellie Meeks of Geraldine was third in pole bending, but also won barrel racing, finishing ahead of Brittney Cox of Chinook and Sierra Jones of Harlem.