story by Lindsay King
The steer tries to turn back and beat Kesha DeGroff and Phil down the fence, but the cutting duo is prepared for this. The Broken Bow, Nebraska, cowgirl is no stranger to the cutting pen or rodeo arena. “My favorite events in high school rodeo are breakaway and cutting. They are both such fast events. And my cutting horse Phil does not let the cows get past him. The only problem is cutting lasts two and a half minutes, that is a lot of time to kill in the pen,” said the 18-year-old. Often times, Kesha has her parents, Craig and Traci, in the cutting pen with her since she gets up to four helpers when she competes. Her sister Kerri, 22, helps when she is home from college also. “My parents rodeoed in high school and college, so I grew up doing it.”
When Kesha was younger she did all of the rodeo events she possibly could. Now she focuses on barrels, poles, breakaway roping, goat tying and cutting in the NHSRA. However, for the M-SRA she competes for a maximum of four seconds on each run. “I really like breakaway because my horse and I get along really well. It is a fast sport though, you only have a few seconds to get your job done.” Her dad mainly coaches her on goat tying and breakaway while her mom works her on the barrels and poles. They tag team the cutting. “My mom is the chute person, she tells me what I need to from the box to ride my horses better. My dad does not always think about that stuff, his mind is on the calf and my rope.”
Kesha only got to compete for half of last season after a concussion at a fall rodeo kept her out of the saddle. “We were just sitting there waiting for our turn when my horse jumped forward, then started backing up and I lost control. I landed on the hard dirt and ended up with a concussion.” Laid up in the hospital for more than two days, Kesha finally got cleared for rodeo and basketball just before the winter sport began. The Broken Bow High School senior is also an avid golfer. “I like that golf is more of an individual sport, kind of like rodeo. You are just trying to do your best without the pressure of worrying how others are doing and how that will affect the game.”
When Kesha isn’t roping, riding or playing sports, she is also an avid deer hunter. “I always do the light rifle and trap shooting at the state rodeo. I like rifle better than trap shooting though. I don’t really like to shoot birds, so trap is not my thing.” The summer before her junior year, Kesha went into the cutting finals in fifth place. “My mom and sister decided to keep the points a secret from me when I was sitting third in the short go. I heard my score after my run and knew I had made nationals. I was really excited.” Though she competed at state in the cutting this past summer, she fell just a bit short for another trip to nationals. However, she has upped her game in all her events.
“I just started competing in the M-SRA this summer because my sister was in it and I needed to get more practice. You can win a lot more money at these rodeos than you can in high school and the competition is pretty tough.” Kesha threw a 2-secomd loop this summer, but looked back and realized she had broken out. She intends to continue competing in the M-SRA this fall between high school rodeos, hopefully propelling her towards her goals of making state finals next year. “I plan to continue competing in the mid states this year and hopefully make the finals in the next couple of years. If they ever get breakaway roping in the PRCA, I will for sure buy my permit.” Though Kesha is unsure of a career path for the time being, she wants to rodeo at college. Her preferences are for either Chadron State College or Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
