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Rodeo queen contest planned Saturday
The Elmore County rodeo queen and royalty contest will be held Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. at the LDS church at E. 12th North and N. 8th East streets in Mountain Home.
The horsemanship competition will follow at the Optimist Rodeo Arena.
The rodeo royalty will represent Elmore County at the Daniel Dopps Memorial Rodeo and the Elmore County Fair rodeos, as well as appearing in both local and regional community events..
The winners of this year's competition will begin their new reign after the Dopps Rodeo in June. The current queens will reign through June 25. The first appearance of the new rodeo queen and her court will be at the Fourth of July Parade in Glenns Ferry.
Competing in this year's events for the titles of Rodeo Princess, Junior Queen, Teen Queen and Senior Queen are:
Princess Contestants
Kaelea Smith is 10 years old and the daughter of Kevin and Ariane Smith of Melba. She has two sisters and two brothers. She grew up in Melba on a small ranch where she has cows, horses and chickens. She enjoys riding her horses, working cows and drawing.
Kynlee Trujillo is the 7-year-old daughter of Mark and Haylee Trujillo and calls Murphy her home with her sister, Preslee, and brothers Brogan and Braygan. She enjoys dancing in the winter and boating and riding horses in the summer. She is involved with the Elmore County 4-H Horse program as a Cloverbud and the Mountain Home Optimist Horse program. Her favorite thing to do is rodeo and show horses.
Junior Queen Contestants
Nicole Jordan is the 14-year-old daughter of Curt and Danielle Yanskey. She is a Boise native and currently attends Lowell Scott Middle School in Meridian where she maintains a 4.0 GPA. She is a member of the National Honor Society, plays the flute in the school band and loves to read, travel and spend every free minute with her two horses. She volunteers her time to help promote the Personal Ponies of Idaho, a non-profit organization that provides children with disabilities with a pony to love and care for at no charge. Nicole assists with many events including the parade float, reading days with the ponies and the anuual Idaho Downs Syndrome picnic. She enjoys promoting the western way of life.
Jessica Ruffing is the 11-year-old daughter of Jack and Rachelle Ruffing. She enjoys playing softball, riding her horse, playing volleyball and the piano. She also shows in 4-H. This year she got a new Palomino horse named Annie. She loves going on trail rides and improving her riding skills. She also loves to ride with her friends.
Preslee Bowman is the 11-year-old daughter of Mark and Haylee Trujillo and Kirk Bowman. She calls Murphy her home with her sister, Kynlee, and brothers Brogan and Braygan. She enjoys dancing, fishing, and riding her four-wheelers, but most of all she enjoys riding her horses. She is involved in the Elmore County 4-H Horse program and the Mountain Home Optimist Ag Group. She loves to ride her horse and go to any rodeo or horseshow she can find.
Tevis Mashore is the 11-year-old daughter of Samra Mashore. She lives on a small ranch in Eagle where she enjoys taking care of all the animals. She began riding horses when she was five and started showing western pleasure last year. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends.
Teen Queen Contestants
Nikita Lente is the 15-year-old daughter of Heather Hardman of Mountain Home. She attends Richard McKenna High School as a sophomore and participates in basketball, volleyball, softball and rodeo. She enjoys barrel racing and rodeo queening. Some of her accomplishments include qualification for NBHA, Mountain Home Optimist All Around Champion, Rimrock Roundup Reserve Champion and 4-H show champion.
Arisha Karren is the 15-year-old daughter of Rob and Sherri Karren of Mountain Home. She is a freshman at Mountain Home High School and carries a 4.0 GPA while also participating in cross country track and basketball. She has participated in basketball for seven years, 4-H for five years and qualified for varsity state cross country her freshman year. She plans to pursue a career in the medical or veterinarian fields and cross country in college.
Senior Queen Contestants
Cheyenne Vandomelen is the 18-year-old resident of Mountain Home and lives with her grandmother, Tiny Ireland. She has ridden horses all her life. Her love for horses has led her to breaking colts and wanting to become an equine dentist. She has lived in Mountain Home most of her life and enjoys the people there. She also enjoys long hard rides chasing cows with her grandmother and all of her cousins in Owyhee County.
Amber Hardman is the 17-year-old daughter of Wyman and Heather Hardman of Mountain Home. She will graduate this year from Mountain Home High School and enjoys softball, riding horses, barrel racing and has qualified for NBHA and lettered in softball.