story by Ruth Nicolaus
Shayda Vaughn is in the top ten in two of her events in the Nebraska Junior High School Rodeo Association.
The Hershey, Neb. cowgirl competes in the pole bending, barrel racing, breakaway roping, team roping (as a header for Bryce Teut) and ribbon roping (as a runner for Bryce.) Of her events, breakaway is “definitely” her favorite.
She rides three horses for her events. Blue, a blue roan, is her pole and team roping horse. Short Round, a sorrel, is her breakaway horse. Casper, a gray, is her barrel horse. Her favorite of the three is Short Round, because “he’s super quick and he’s easy to get along with.”
As an eighth grade student at Hershey Public School, her favorite class is Algebra I, and her least favorite is English. She competes in volleyball, basketball, and track and is a member of student council and quiz bowl. She is on her school’s high honor roll.
Shayda is a member of the Beefmakers 4-H club, where she shows cattle. Last year, she showed a red steer named G2 and a stocker-feeder calf. This year, she has a black Angus steer who already weighs 1100 lbs. She hasn’t chosen a name for him yet, because the name “has to be perfect.”
For fun, Shayda likes to play with her Corgi named Meeka, be outside with her horses, and go with her friends to the school gym to play volleyball and basketball. She also likes to shop, especially at big malls in Lincoln or Kearney. She loves buying new rodeo shirts and jeans.
Her favorite meal her mom makes is chicken alfredo; the best dessert her mom makes is brownies. Shayda loves sour gummy worms and raspberry tea, and if she was transported to any buffet restaurant in the world, she’d head straight for the pepperoni pizza and crab rangoons. Her favorite restaurant is Raising Canes, and she’s thrilled that a location is coming to North Platte.
Shayda likes to cook; her specialty is chicken rollups, which consist of chicken and cream cheese rolled up in croissants. She also makes homemade macaroni and cheese but it doesn’t taste as good as her mom’s does.
When she grows up, she may go into the medical field, possibly as a certified registered nurse anesthetist or a physical therapist. She likes helping people “and making them feel better.”
Her mom Celie loves Shayda’s sparking personality. “She is always very encouraging and positive to be around,” Celie said. “She enjoys everything she does, she enjoys being with people and helping people.”
Shayda competed at the state finals the past two years and finished in the top ten both years. As of press time, she was ranked fourth in the breakaway and ninth in the barrels.
She has a younger sibling, her “favorite,” she jokes, Ali, who is eleven.
Shayda is the daughter of Tim and Celie Vaughn.
