Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
A half-dozen junior high athletes from Curry and Roosevelt counties are one week away from competing for top middle school honors at the Junior High National Finals Rodeo, scheduled June 21-27 in Des Moines, Iowa.
Shad Mayfield, a two-time national champion and the 2013 all-around boys winner, will go for his third time with four others. He will be joined by Texico Junior High teammate Garrett Baldwin, Clovis’ Colter Figg, Portales’ Bryce Derrer, Dylan Reed of Dora and Hayden Powell of Rogers.
Featuring about 1,000 contestants from 42 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia, the NJHFR is the world’s largest rodeo for junior high students. The athletes will compete for more than $75,000 in prizes and $100,000 in college scholarships.
Each competitor qualified by finishing in the top four during the state rodeo season in their respective categories:
• Mayfield qualified in ribbon roping, goat tying, chute dogging and tie-down roping.
• Derrer qualified in tie-down roping and ribbon roping.
• Figg qualified in ribbon roping and team roping.
• Baldwin qualified in team roping, and will be Figg’s teammate.
• Powell qualified in breakaway roping.
• Reed qualified in saddle bronc steer riding.
All qualifiers will compete in two preliminary rounds, and the top 20 finishers will advance to the final round on June 27. The winner in each event will be determined based on their scores through all three rounds.
All performances will be broadcast online at NHSRATV.com, and the Saturday championships will also be televised on RFD-TV. The first performance will be 7 p.m. (CDT) June 21, with 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. (both CDT) performances each day thereafter.
The High School Finals Rodeo is scheduled for July 12-18 in Rock Springs, Wyoming.
