story by Riata Cummings
Maklee Larsen is the 13-year-old daughter of Glenn and Misty Larsen of Genola, Utah. The small-town farming community serves as a home base for Maklee and her sister Shaylee as they spend time together riding horses, boating, and traveling to and from rodeos. Maklee attends Mount Nebo Jr High School and will begin her eighth-grade year this fall.
Maklee’s father and his sisters competed in rodeo and she followed in their footsteps, beginning at the age of 4. She won her first buckle at 8 years old. Now, she competes in the barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, team roping, and ribbon roping. Her favorite event is the barrel racing. Her goat tying and breakaway horse is Willy, a 9-year-old grey gelding; her team roping horse, Monkey, is a 16-year-old bay mare that helps Maklee turn steers for RJ Johnson; and her horse for barrel racing and pole bending is Reba, a 14-year-old sorrel mare. Maklee and her horses have earned quite the list of titles, including UJHSRA 2-time State Champion Barrel Racer, 2019 UJHSRA All-Around Cowgirl, and 4th in the world at the 2018 National Junior High School Finals Rodeo in barrel racing.
This year Maklee will be serving as the Utah Junior High School Rodeo Association Student President. Here is her message to the members:
“Hi, my name is Maklee Larsen and I will be your Student President for 2019-2020! I rodeo as part of the Central Utah Rodeo Club. I am looking forward to all of our fun activities, and to being involved with the board and all of you members. My advice for this year would be to focus on the good during your rodeos. Don’t get hung up on one bad run, shake it off and think about how you can do better in your next event or next rodeo. Let’s have a great year, UJHSRA!”
Maklee knows that not every run will go her way, but that every run will count for something. One of Maklee’s greatest strengths is her ability to withstand the pressure of high stakes rodeos. She knows that it, “all comes down to Saturday night at state finals,” but can remove the nerves by mentally putting herself at any other rodeo. “Give it all you’ve got,” and she knows that hard work will be rewarded.
Some of Maklee’s heroes are Andrea and Pete Jones. Another of her heroes is her father, who spends countless hours in the arena with her, running cattle and chutes. She would like to thank her parents for giving her the chance to rodeo, as well as her grandparents, sister, and friends for supporting and encouraging her as she travels down the rodeo road.
