story by Lily Weinacht
Sr. Girl World
Barrel Racing Champion
Greeley Eastep began rodeoing 11 years ago, and last summer at the 2018 NLBFR, she experienced one of the highlights of her career thus far after winning the Senior Girl World Barrel Racing Champion title. “I was super surprised,” says the 15-year-old from Bainbridge, Indiana. “I was sitting pretty good in the points going into it, but I knew it was going to be dependent on how I was doing through the week. I had a decent first round and knew I’d need a super second round to keep in the hunt, and we won the second round, which is exactly what we needed to come in high in the average.”
Greeley and her 12-year-old brother, Gunnar, are the first in their family to rodeo. Their parents, Scott and Della Eastep, showed cattle, and when one of Della’s coworkers introduced Greeley to rodeo and sold her a pony, a new family tradition was born. Greeley and Gunnar junior rodeoed, but before she started junior high rodeoing, Greeley wanted to experience a national finals and joined the NLBRA in fourth grade. “We had never competed anywhere on that big of a scale, so it was a pretty cool experience, and I’ve met so many friends through Little Britches that I’ve kept up with through junior high and high school.”
Along with barrel racing, Greeley competes in barrel racing and pole bending, as well as her two favorite events, goat tying and breakaway roping. Her hard work and the support of her family also put her fourth in the world in goat tying at the 2018 NLBFR, and third in the world in breakaway roping in 2016. “The girl who got me started in rodeo is Amanda Burke, and she has been just amazing,” Greeley adds. “My goat tying coach is Kaylee Moyer, and I give her full credit for getting me there in the goat tying. I met her at the Little Britches Finals my first year out there, and I’ve been to at least 10 of her clinics and visited the college she works at. She’s pretty cool.”
Greeley and her family have traveled as far as southeast Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas to compete in Little Britches rodeos, while she also competes in the Indiana High School Rodeo Association. She competes on two horses in all her events, and shares one of them, a 17-year-old gelding named Itchy, with her brother. Greeley and Itchy are leading the goat tying and sitting second in the breakaway roping in the IHSRA. “He’s my brother’s breakaway horse, and he’s the perfect size for me because I match his stride, and he takes care of me every single time. Harley is my barrel, pole, and breakaway horse, and she’s a 12-year-old Paint horse, but she’s a solid color. She’s an amazing athlete and tries so hard.”
A sophomore and honor student at North Putnam High School, Greeley enjoys math and science, along with FFA, Key Club, and showing lambs in 4-H. She rides horses and practices as soon as she’s home from school, and is working to qualify for the NHSFR in breakaway roping, goat tying, and barrel racing this year. “I won Rookie of the Year my sixth-grade year at the NJHFR, and I’d love to be able to do that at High School Nationals this year. I should be going out to the National Little Britches Finals in goat tying and breakaway roping, and I would like to make it to the short go in both those events.”
