story by Ruth Nicolaus
Elijah Monnett is a bull rider in the Utah High School Rodeo Association.
The eighteen-year-old cowboy was bitten by the bull riding bug two years ago.
He went to a county fair, saw the bull riding, and wanted to do it. He asked his dad, a former bull rider, if he could, and his dad agreed.
A resident of Glendale, Utah, Elijah is a senior at Valley High School. His school is small (there are eighteen kids in the senior class) but he enjoys that and has good friends. He likes learning about old stuff (history class) and bones and body parts (anatomy class).
He is also working on his certified nursing assistant license, which he’ll have done by this May. Elijah likes to take care of people, and he likes the medical field, which is a good combination. “Being able to work with people who need your help, and being paid at the same time is awesome.”
As is par the course for bull riders, Elijah has had his share of injuries. He broke a bone in his fore-arm in 2015, and in October of last year, he got stepped on, spending two days in the hospital with a lacerated lung, liver and kidney.
In high school, he played baseball and is on the honor roll. He also competes in the Little Britches Rodeo Association and qualified for the National Little Britches Finals Rodeo last year. After high school, he plans on riding bulls professionally.
For fun, he loves to hang out with friends, driving in the hills, hunting deer, elk and turkey, and fishing.
Elijah has two older brothers, Shane and Jessi, two older sisters, Kaleen and Naomi, and two younger brothers, Josiah and Zane.
He is the son of Danny and Dana Monnett.
