story by Ruth Nicolaus
Blaine Flack excels in the classroom. The Crawford, Nebraska cowboy, a member of the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association, has a 3.97 grade point average and has received a Rural Health Opportunities Program (R-HOP) scholarship, which provides him with a full ride scholarship to college in a health-related field.
But when he’s not in class, he loves being horseback, team roping and tie-down roping in high school rodeo.
For the tie-down, Blaine rides a sixteen-year-old sorrel mare named Pineapple. Pineapple is good at her job, but a bit nervous. “I have to work my way around her,” Blaine said. One of the things Pineapple doesn’t like is flags in the arena, so while the national anthem is played, she and Blaine can be found warming up far away from the arena.
For the heeling (he heels for Ty Chasek of Mitchell), he rides a twenty-year-old sorrel gelding named Rusty. He has ridden Rusty for the past eight years, for junior, junior high and now high school rodeo. “He’s my go-to horse,” Blaine said.
As a senior at Crawford High School, competition is tough between the twenty kids in the senior class. Four of them vie for the top spot academically, and Blaine is one of those four. His favorite classes are medical classes like physiology and anatomy, and his favorite teacher is Mr. Barry, who is the physical education teacher and coach for football, basketball and track.
One of Blaine’s accomplishments this year was as quarterback for the Crawford Rams. He threw the ball for 2,200 yards and finished as the top throwing quarterback in Class D. He’s quick to give credit where it’s due, however. “I had four good receivers and we ran good routes. I couldn’t do it without them and my line. It was awesome.” Crawford lost in the first round of state playoffs.
Blaine is on the honor roll and is treasurer for his school’s chapter of the National Honor Society.
For fun, he loves to hang out with his friends, shoot hoops and cruise the streets of Crawford. His favorite place to eat is The Tailgate, and his favorite dish there is the French dip. He likes to snowboard and often hits the trails near Leadville, Colo., in the Rocky Mountains.
This fall, he hopes to attend Chadron State College, where he will compete on the rodeo team and work towards a degree in dental hygiene. The field appeals to him. “It’s more than just cleaning teeth,” he said. “When you make the mouth healthy, the whole body is healthy.” The job gives him the opportunity to help people, which he enjoys, and offers advancement.
Blaine has team roped with Ty at some Nebraska State Rodeo and Mid-States Rodeo events last year. He qualified for the high school state finals in Hastings the past three years.
He has an older brother, Seth, who is 27 and a younger brother, Rhett, who is ten. He is the son of Dave and Jessica Flack.
