story by Ruth Nicolaus
Carter Anderson and Sage Schrunk are the National Junior High School Rodeo team roping champions. The duo, from Merriman and Valentine, Neb., respectively, won the average with a time of 27.04 seconds on three head at Nationals in Huron, S.D. in June.
Carter, the header, is fourteen years old and will be a freshman at Gordon-Rushville High School this fall. Sage, the heeler, is fifteen and will be a freshman at Valentine High School in the fall.
The two have been roping together since they were five years old, first with the dummy, then on horseback. Their dads were college friends who stayed in touch after their kids were born.
Carter also competes in the tie-down roping and ribbon roping, roping for Tacey From.
This was his second trip to Nationals. He enjoyed his time in Huron, especially the water park and the field day. He was part of the Nebraska team that won the field day events.
In school, Carter plays basketball, football and ran track in junior high. He was part of the quiz bowl team and was on the All A Honor Roll.
For fun, he likes to go to the gym, work out, lift weights, and ball around with his friends.
This summer, Carter is working for his dad in the hayfield and moving cattle. He can run the swather, baler, rake, and often moves bales out of swamp ground with the single bale mover so the big bale mover doesn’t get stuck.
After he gets his education, Carter would like to be a rancher, have a family, and do for his kids what his parents have done for him.
At state finals, Sage finished second in the chute dogging and competed in that event at Nationals as well as the team roping. He also competes in the tie-down roping and ribbon roping, roping for Gracey Taylor.
For fun, Sage loves to hang out with friends and was part of a branding crew that wrestled calves at about twenty brandings this spring. This summer, he’s working for his dad, putting in tanks and building fence.
When he’s an adult, Sage would like to work for his dad and rodeo.
Carter loves roping with Sage. “He’s a really good partner,” Carter said, “and he’s a really good person, too. He usually catches, too, so that works out.” The two practiced together about three times a week before Nationals. “Just knowing you’re going to catch is a lot of fun,” Sage said.
The cowboys were nervous during the short go, but they handled it. “I tried to block out everything and think that it was another run,” Carter said.
Carter’s head horse is Bucky, a thirteen-year-old buckskin who is big and muscular and is used to drag calves out of the branding pen.
Sage rides a nine-year-old sorrel mare named Allie, who was raised by Jimmy Ferguson and purchased by the family eighteen months ago.
Carter is the son of Angela and Travis Anderson. He has an older sister, Grace. Sage is the son of Richard and Becky Schrunk and has an older sister, Reaganne, and a younger brother, Sutton.
