By Diane Gasper-O\u2019Brien
University Relations and Marketing
HAYS, Kan. \u2013 Winning \u2013 and losing \u2013 in rodeo can happen in a matter of seconds. The same holds true in life, say Fort Hays State University students and graduates.
But even if you fail, you always, always get back up and try again. FHSU Tigers from three different walks of life shared that philosophy at this past weekend\u2019s 53rd annual Fort Hays State Rodeo.
There was Jalynn Pfeifer, who was crowned 2019 FHSU Rodeo Queen during Friday night\u2019s performance.
Travis Booth, a senior steer wrestler, is trying to qualify for the College National Finals Rodeo in his last collegiate season and had to look ahead to the next meet after just missing qualifying for Saturday\u2019s finals.
Watching the action was Sara Hornbuckle, a recent graduate of FHSU and mother of rodeo competitor Brent Hornbuckle. When Mom Hornbuckle decided to return to school to complete her Bachelor of Science in Nursing, she chose Fort Hays State. She said she was able to successfully complete her degree online because of the \u201cincredible support\u201d FHSU offered.
That kind of support is a way of life at FHSU and the Hays community, said Bronc Rumford, Fort Hays State\u2019s rodeo coach.
Rumford was all smiles at the conclusion of the 2019 rodeo Saturday night. The stands were packed on a pleasant spring evening, with folks from the university, the community and the surrounding area cheering on the competitors, which included students from two-time defending national champion and perennial power Panhandle State out of Goodwell, Okla.
\u201cWe appreciate \u00a0the community of Hays so much,\u201d Rumford said. \u201cFrom businesses who serve as sponsors to parents who come to watch their kids and all the fans who come just to see good competition, a lot of people support this program.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nA freshman from\nEllis, just 16 miles from Hays, Pfeifer was familiar with the FHSU Rodeo at a\nyoung age.
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\nWhen she heard\nthe rodeo was bringing back a rodeo queen in 2017, she thought about trying out\nif she attended school at FHSU.
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\nShe did indeed\nbecome a Tiger, following her two older siblings to Fort Hays State.
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\nThough just 18\nyears old, Pfeifer thought she was ready to compete for queen this year. After\nall, she had been competing, and failing, and trying again for rodeo crowns\nsince seventh grade.
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\nAfter two attempts\nin the Ellis County Rodeo Princess competition, Pfeifer won that title on her\nthird try and followed that up with Ellis County Rodeo Queen and Miss Teen\nRodeo Kansas.
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\n\u201cLooking back, I\nwas glad it took me three tries at princess,\u201d Pfeifer said. \u201cA lot of times,\nyou learn more when you lose than when you win, and I learned so much and\ndeveloped so many skills during that time.\u201d
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\nNow, Pfeifer is\nlooking forward to promoting rodeo while representing Fort Hays State at rodeos\nand other festivals throughout the next year.
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\n\u201cI love being an\nambassador for the sport of rodeo,\u201d Pfeifer said. \u201cI look forward to just\ngetting the word out there.\u201d
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\nPfeifer is the\nyoungest of three siblings who have attended Fort Hays State. Her sister,\nJordan Pfeifer Gabel, graduated in 2013 with a degree in nursing, and her\nbrother, Jared Pfeifer, is a senior on the Tiger men\u2019s track and field team.\n
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\n\u201cFort Hays State\nis a great place to get a good education,\u201d said Jalynn Pfeifer, an agriculture\ncommunications major. She will get some practical application in that field as\nrodeo queen.
\n\u201cI like being a\nmentor for the youth,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m excited to get started.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nHornbuckle said\nher son became interested in calf roping when he attended a rodeo Bible camp\nwhile in middle school. He competed in rodeo in high school, and when it came\ntime to check out colleges, his mom suggested Fort Hays State.
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\nDespite being\nmuch closer to several other four-year colleges, including one in his hometown\nof Ottawa in eastern Kansas, Brent decided to apply at FHSU \u2013 the same college\nat which his mother was enrolled in online classes.
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\n\u201cI was hoping he\nwould choose here, because I knew he could be involved,\u201d Hornbuckle said, \u201cand\nit\u2019s so reasonably priced.\u201d
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\nBrent, who was\ninvolved in football, wrestling and FFA in high school, chose Fort Hays State\nand the rodeo team. He competes in team roping and tie-down roping.
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\nFrom a parent\u2019s\npoint of view, Fort Hays State \u00adand rodeo were a good fit for her son.
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\n\u201cThe rodeo team\nhere has been so good for him,\u201d Hornbuckle said, \u201cand I knew he would get a\nquality education there, because I did. I learned a ton, and I loved it. All\nthe options they have to help you succeed are fabulous.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nBooth\u2019s time of\n4.7 seconds would have won Friday night\u2019s performance in the steer wrestling,\nbut he was assessed a 10-second penalty after breaking the barrier a\nsplit-second too soon.
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\nAlmost instantly,\nBooth began looking ahead to this weekend\u2019s regular-season finale at Panhandle\nState. Booth, who qualified for the finals of the National Little Britches\nRodeo Association his senior year in high school and first year of junior\ncollege, said that the College National Finals Rodeo has been a goal of his for\ntwo years.
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\nAt the end of the\nseason, the top three competitors in each event from the 11 regions across the\ncountry qualify for the national finals.
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\nBooth is\ncurrently ranked in the top six in the region, and a strong performance at\nPanhandle State could push him into the top three. Should that happen, Booth\nsaid, it still won\u2019t be the end of his competition.
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\n\u201cI\u2019d like to work\non a ranch and keep rodeoing,\u201d said Booth, an animal science major.
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\nBooth grew up in\nCastle Rock, Colo., and transferred to Fort Hays State after two years at Otero\nJunior College in LaJunta, Colo. He had checked out other four-year colleges\nwith rodeo teams and ultimately chose FHSU.
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\n\u201cThe thing that\nsold me was they pay for travel here,\u201d Booth said. \u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed rodeo here so\nmuch. I\u2019m going to miss hanging out with all my friends.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\nTwo Fort Hays\nState competitors who reached Saturday\u2019s finals and placed in the top\nthree at FHSU\u2019s Rodeo were two students from Colorado \u2013 Peyton senior Zeke Hall\nand Eads junior Bailey McCaughey.
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\nHall, who had no\nrodeo experience when he first came to Fort Hays, improved consistently each\nyear. He will certainly remember his final rodeo in his home arena. He competed\nin team roping with Daniel Durkes from Northwestern Oklahoma State, and the duo\nwon third in the long round, third in the short round and third in average.\n
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\nMcCaughey placed\nsixth in barrel racing.
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\nRumford, a rodeo\nstandout who won numerous events during his collegiate days at Fort Hays State,\nis in his 10th year as the team\u2019s coach. He said the last couple of meets each\nyear are kind of nostalgic, with the seniors approaching their final meets.\n
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\n\u201cThey\u2019re such\ngood kids, you hate to see them go, but you\u2019re glad to see them get out into\nthe world,\u201d Rumford said. \u201cAnd then the next fall, we get a new set of good\nkids in.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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