story by Lily Weinacht
Sage Gabriel of Quinn, South Dakota, is the 2018 Miss SDHSRA Queen. When a torn ACL her freshman year kept her from her favorite event of goat tying, Sage decided to use the time healing to pursue rodeo queening. The 18-year-old ran for Miss SDHSRA in 2017 and was the first runner up, then won the title this season. Shortly after her coronation, Sage competed in the NHSFR Queen Contest and finished eighth overall, second in appearance, fifth in modeling and impromptu, and sixth in personality. “I really enjoyed going to Nationals because I learned so much about myself and that I really love getting on stage and speaking,” says Sage. “I enjoy expanding my horizons and meeting new people, and I really like being a role model for younger girls. I was so nervous the first day and didn’t feel like I belonged there, but then I started talking to the other girls and realized they were in the same position as me. I finished eleventh in speaking, and I really enjoyed the whole speech part.”
With her Nationals experience and love of rodeo queening, one of Sage’s goals while representing the SDHSRA this year is to encourage more interest in rodeo queening in her home state. “A goal I set for myself is to step out of my comfort zone and go into my community and have that leadership role. I want to have a younger girls queen clinic—I feel like in South Dakota we’re in need of more queens, and I want to get more girls excited about that.”
Along with competing in the NHSFR Queen Contest, Sage qualified for Nationals in the cutting, and enters the SDHSRA in reined cow horse, goat tying, barrel racing, pole bending, and breakaway roping. “Goat tying is still probably my favorite. I feel like I have more control, and there’s less room for error, and after my knee surgery, the feeling of getting off is awesome.”
Sage’s mom, Heather Gabriel, rodeoed in high school and college, and her dad, Jeff Gabriel, rode saddle broncs. Sage often travels to high school rodeos with her mom, while her dad takes her siblings, Cedar (16), Ember (13), and Latham (11), to their rodeos. “My sister and I always goat tie together. She’s pretty tough already, so we can push each other,” says Sage. “My mom drives me a lot, and last year’s high school queen, Tyler Hintz, has helped me a lot with nerves and getting prepared for Nationals. Levi Grimes has helped me overall with horsemanship, and another rodeo friend of mine, Ellie Moon, comes over to practice with me and we drive each other to do the best we can.”
Sage runs barrels and poles and does her queening on her mare Caddie, while she competes in reined cow horse on Root Beer, whom they call Rooty. “He’s a lot of fun—I’ve never ridden a horse trained like that. My goat tying horse is Popcorn. We raised her so she’s pretty special to our family, and my cutting horse is Wild Thing. I’m super proud of her—we have a special connection, and that shows in the arena, and my breakaway horse is Lonesome. We’re just starting to click.” The Gabriels raise horses, which they send to professional saddle bronc rider J.J. Elshere to start. Sage’s dad also raises bucking horses and cattle, which she enjoys helping with.
When she’s not with her horses, Sage, a senior, is very involved at Phillips High School, where she plays on the volleyball team and is the FFA chapter secretary. She also does extemporaneous speaking and horse judging in FFA, and enjoys her English and writing classes. “I’d really like to go into broadcasting, and I definitely want to college rodeo. I would really like to make it to Nationals in the goat tying, and my big goal for this year is to win state in goat tying.”
