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Local youths ready for state rodeo
By Jacob Truchard, Sports Writer
Three Colorado County youths have earned the chance to compete in the state rodeo competition in June.
Sarah Heard of Columbus, Trey Binton of Rock Island and Shelby Ellis of Weimar will be competing in the Texas High School State Rodeo Association Finals in Abilene June 15-21.
Ten Texas regions and 10 kids in each event will compete to see who will advance to the national finals.
Sarah is the daughter of Tracey Heard of Columbus and Chris Heard of Bay City and the granddaughter of Arline and Kenneth Brune of Columbus.
Sarah is a graduating senior at Columbus High School and has been active in the FFA, HOSA, TAFE and Anchor Club and was the mascot for the Columbus Cardinals’ football team.
She has been a member of the THSRA for three years and has competed in rodeos since she was 6 years old.
Sarah has been a member of several other rodeo organizations where she has won four saddles and more than 70 belt buckles.
Sarah’s mother, Tracy Heard, said the entire family wishes her all the best at state and hopes she makes it to nationals in Fairfield, N.M.
“We wish her luck at the state finals,”?Tracy Heard said.
Trey is the son of Tom and Johnna Benton.
Trey is a student at Rice High School where he plays baseball and is active in FFA.
He qualified for the state rodeo finals in Region VII competition at Crescent.
Trey was the champion bull rider and placed fifth in team roping, heeling and placed sixth in the cutting event. He was the only boy athlete to qualify for state in three events.
Trey was also the reserve all-around rookie cowboy, where he competed in tie-down calf roping as well as the other events.
Trey, now 16, began his rodeo career at the age of five, where he competed in the “mutton bustin,” at a rodeo event
He has won numerous Texas Youth Rodeo titles, saddles and buckles.
In 2005, Trey won his first ever Texas Wrangler Junior High Rodeo in the bull riding and team roping and qualified for the 2005 National Finals, which took place in Gallup, N.M. He won first in both rounds, only to be denied the national champion title after bucking off in the short go.
However, he came home with the reserve national champion title in bull riding competition.
Shelby, daughter of David and Sherri Roznovak of Weimar, is a freshman at Weimar High School.
She has been competing in rodeos since she was 11 years old.
Shelby said that she loves horses and loves to compete in poles, goat tying and barrel racing.
This year she took fifth place in poles out of more than 60 competitors at Region VII in Wharton.
Shelby is involved in sports at WHS and is a member of the Weimar FFA. This year she raised the grand champion rabbits.
“I plan to give it my all in Abilene and hopefully go on to the national level,” Shelby said.
She said she hopes to continue to rodeo throughout her high school years and continue to compete on a college rodeo team.
“We are so proud of how hard she has worked and her commitment to be the best she can be at all she does,” said Sherri Roznovak, Shelby’s mother, speaking for bother her and her husband.
The results of Sarah, Trey and Shelby?s competition in the 2008 TSHRA state rodeo finals will appear next month in The Citizen.
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