www.kamloopsthisweek.com
SPORTS
FRIDAY, July 12, 2019
A27
kamloopsthisweek.com | Marty Hastings: 778-471-7536
Rodeo family on the road to Wyoming for nationals MARTY HASTINGS
STAFF REPORTER
sports@kamloopsthisweek.com
B
onds formed will last long after the U.S. and Canadian National High School Finals Rodeos are over, but this group, which has a family feel, will never take this form again. Students, most with relationships reared since Little Britches, will go their separate ways, some off to college together in Alberta, while others eye schools down south. Riley Anness, Justin Mitchell, Carson Payton, Carson Weaver, Kash Sigouin, Taylor Gyger, Ryan-Spur Reid, Lincoln Yarama and Justin Weaver make up the group of Kamloops-and-area students heading to the National High School Finals Rodeo, which begins this weekend in Rock Springs, Wyo. “I’ve grown up with these kids, going to rodeos all over,” said Grade 11 Barriere secondary student Kash Sigouin, a pianoplaying cowboy ready for a fourth go-round at U.S. nationals. “To be able to go down to nationals and compete with them and against them, it’s an amazing, amazing experience.” Sigouin, who grew up on a 3,000-acre ranch, will be team roping at nationals with his great buddy Carson Payton, a Grade 11 student at Valleyview secondary. “We’ve been best friends forever. It’s just another day. We always rope,” said Payton, who seemed chuffed to report he nearly severed his wrist in a rodeo incident a few years back. “I can look at him and tell if he’s stressed out or thinking about it too much and that’s when I’ll go talk to him more and start joking around and make fun of him for something. “Then, he’ll make fun of me for something. That’s how we calm each other down.” Riley Anness and Taylor Gyger entered the 2018-2019 B.C. High School Rodeo Association season knowing it was their last chance to qualify for high school nationals, both in search of their first trip to the big dance. Anness did not waltz through the front door with a top-four finish in B.C., but performed well enough in pole bending to get the call when a top-four competitor declined the invite to nationals. She doesn’t really give a rip how she got there — she’s there, set to compete under bright lights, in front of big crowds, and that’s what matters. “I’ve always wanted to go and it’s always been something I’ve had as a goal,” said Anness, a Valleyview secondary grad. “In the past, it’s been a lot of pressure I’ve put onto myself and I end up cracking under the pressure. This year, I was like, you know what, let’s just be laid back, focus on our runs and go do our thing. It worked out.” See U.S. NATIONALS, A29
BERNIEHUDYMA.COM PHOTO NorKam secondary graduate Taylor Gyger gets ready to unleash at a B.C. High School Rodeo event earlier this year in Falkland. She is one of nine Kamloops-and-area contestants who are in Wyoming for the National High School Finals Rodeo, which will feature about 1,500 contestants from 43 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, Australia and Mexico.
25th Annual PROGRESS
AMLOOPS TRANSFORMED
View the digital edition at
www.KamloopsProgress.com