Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Rylan Montoya (center) and partner Joe Cortese rope a calf during a rodeo. Montoya, an eighth-grader at Logan, and Cortese will compete later this month in the National Junior High Finals Rodeo.
A Logan eighth-grader will be one of New Mexico's representatives at a national rodeo competition in Georgia later this month.
Rylan Montoya, a student at Logan Municipal Schools, has earned a position on the New Mexico junior-high team and will travel with teammates to Perry, Georgia, on June 19-25 to compete at the National Junior High Finals Rodeo.
Montoya will compete in team roping with partner Joe Cortese, a sixth-grader from Fort Sumner.
Featuring about 1,200 contestants from 43 states, five Canadian provinces, Australia, Mexico and New Zealand, the NJHFR is the world's largest junior-high rodeo. In addition to competing for more than $80,000 in prizes, contestants will vie for more than $200,000 in college scholarships and a chance to be named world champion. To earn that title, contestants must finish in the top 20 based on their combined times or scores in the first two go-rounds to advance to Saturday evening's final round. World champions will be determined based on their three go-round combined times or scores.
Added money for the optional jackpot has increased to $100,000 and is available to everyone at finals who enters the jackpot in their event.
The Saturday championship performance will be televised nationally as a part of the "Cinch High School Rodeo Tour" series on RFD-TV. Live broadcasts of all NJHFR performances will air on cowboychannelplus.com. Performance times are 7 p.m. Eastern on June 19 and at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. each day thereafter.