Wood River High School freshman Haillie Taylor took a bit of a victory lap Friday and Saturday, May 22-23 during the 2009 Fifth District high school rodeo finals at Gooding County Fairgrounds rodeo arena.
She entered the two-day event with a commanding 31-point lead in girls' all-around standings after four of the five rodeos on the circuit. At Gooding Taylor picked up a few points here and a few there and breezed to a 16-point triumph over fellow Fifth District rookie Valene Lickley of Valley.
Taylor finished the five-event season with 245 points to earn the girls' all-around buckle over reserve champion Lickley, 229. Those were also the final top-two standings of the Girls' Rookie rankings.
Lickley earned 38 points at the Gooding rodeo while Taylor had only 23 (13 breakaway, 8 poles, 2 goats), but Taylor's lead coming into the event was wide enough for the 1-2 finish to stand up. Taylor's outstanding 6.910-second breakaway roping time for second place Saturday helped her cause greatly.
As it turned out, versatile cowgirl Taylor won the girls' all-around title without winning any of the season events. The highest she finished was second for the season in polebending, 84-71 behind Lickley.
There were a few extenuating circumstances at Gooding.
Haillie's breakaway, goat tying and team roping horse is Roanie, and her polebending and barrel racing horse is Picabo. Last Wednesday, Picabo became ill and couldn't run at Gooding. So Haillie borrowed a nice horse named Cricket from her best friend Brenna Wineager from Eagle so she could at least make a run at Gooding.
Kelli Taylor, Haillie's mother, said, "I give her a lot of credit. Not many kids or adults for that matter can jump on another horse and make a run, but Haillie did it and smiled the whole time and that's what is important. It dropped her down to third in the barrels, but according to Haillie, she will get them at state!"
So, having led the barrel racing ranks before the Gooding finale, Taylor fell to third place with 74 points. Jerome's Samantha Logan (84.5) maintained her late-season charge with 13.5 additional points and Valley's Jamie Lancaster (75) moved past Taylor with a 17-point final weekend.
Taylor (39) also dropped three spots in goat tying from fourth to seventh place behind Jerome's goats winner Mattie MacGregor (75). In the process Taylor failed to make state by placing as one of the top six cowgirls.
But Taylor made it to state with a sixth in breakaway roping with 35 points and a sixth place with partner Latner Straley in team roping, 26 points.
The Wood River ninth grader also collected nine important points in girls' cutting Saturday to place fourth in those season standings and also make it to state.
Taylor ended up qualifying for the State High School Rodeo Championships June 15-20 at Bannock County Fairgrounds in Pocatello in five events—polebending, barrel racing, girls' cutting, breakaway roping and team roping.
She won a beautiful saddle and buckles for each event with the exception of the goats. And she thanked Danny Thomason of Jerome for his help with cutting and the use of the horse named Blu, and also Scott Martin and all the Fifth District sponsors and volunteers.
Carey Rodeo Club cowgirl Taylor Castle, who just missed out on points in Friday's first Gooding go-around, rallied back Saturday and picked up four points for her seventh-place 18.381-second ride.
Fifth District boys also had an exciting weekend at Gooding.
Last year's all-round Fifth District boys' king Cy Eames of Gooding captured his third boys' all-around championship 257-185 over reserve winner J-2 Bridges of Valley. Gooding's Justin Parke wound up in third place with 162 points.
Eames had been the calf roping leader before Gooding, but Parke won both go-rounds with 9.60- and 9.640-second times to sneak past Eames 84-81 for the calf roping season championship. Valley's Montana Barlow had 70-point and 65-point scores for the first-place 20 points in bull riding that gave him the season title 49-30 over J-2 Bridges.
The 2009-10 queen was Ariel Cottonoir of Richfield.
Haillie Taylor, the new Fifth District High School rodeo girls’ all-around winner, poses with her roping horse Roanie during the Gooding finals Friday night. This summer, she will compete at the state finals in Pocatello June 15-20 and hopefully will qualify for further national competition. Photo by Willy Cook
