By Julie Johansen
The Emery 5th and Under Rodeo Club put on a great show this past week at the 5&U State Finals Rodeo hosted in Heber City, Utah.
Maddi Nielson worked hard all year and had a great weekend, winning the 2019 all-around cowgirl saddle. She earned the state championship title in girls’ goat tying. Nielson also placed second in girls’ breakaway roping, 10th in girls’ pole bending and 12th in girls’ barrel racing.
In the boys’ steer riding, Emery dominated with four cowboys in the top ten. These cowboys have had impressive runs all year and competition was tough. Kamz Rich came out on top to be the 2019 steer riding champion. Close behind him was Dalton Allred, coming in second, with Orrin McElprang in fourth and Will Ekker in ninth.
In the boys’ breakaway roping, Trent Gilbert earned fourth place and Johnny Fox took ninth. Fox and Gilbert also placed in the team roping with fourth and seventh place finishes, respectively. In the boys’ goat tying, Tadd Nielson came in fifth place, McElprang took sixth and Gilbert finished ninth. Tadd also placed eighth in the boys’ barrel racing.
In the boys all-around, McElprang took sixth, Tadd finished in 10th and Gilbert earned 11th.
It was an impressive weekend for these little rodeo stars. They will now be practicing hard to start back up in fall.
