If Kelton Adair had his way, the family’s outdoor arena just south of Kearney, Neb. would have lights, and he and his step-dad would be roping till midnight every night.
“Dad wants lights, too,” Kelton says, “but Mom says, definitely not. We’d be out there all night. We’re already out there all day.”
As it is, every Thursday night he ropes at a local arena, “and we don’t get home till 11 or 12 on school nights, and Mom doesn’t like that.”
The 18 year old, a member of the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association, is a former heeler-turned header who heads for Clay Bauer of Arcadia, Neb. He sold his good head horse two years ago, and is now riding his sister’s breakaway horse. He’d like to turn the nine-year-old palomino named Girl into a tie-down horse, but his sister isn’t crazy about the idea.
He is a senior at Kearney High School, where he has taken a lot of advanced placement and honors classes. His schedule last fall included AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, AP English 4, and a Construction Tech Class, in which students actually build a house. The students do nearly all the work in the house except for the masonry. They pour the foundation, frame, sheet rock, insulate, and even do the electric work, under the supervision of a certified electrician.
Kelton has never completed an entire year of high school rodeo, due to three knee surgeries in three years. As a freshman, he completely severed his anterior meniscus and shattered a section of his kneecap and femur. The surgery fixed the problem for about a year. He reinjured it again at a high school rodeo, and this time a scope took care of it, but it ended his rodeo year again.
Then, late in the summer of 2013, while hiking in Colorado, it swelled up again, and he had another scope. After his freshman year, “that was the end of football,” he says, “but it’s better to quit football than rodeo.” His doctor, a former rodeo contestant, understood the strain the events would put on Kelton’s knees. “My doctor gave me an ultimatum. He said, maybe we’ll let you team rope, but no steer wrestling or (tie-down) roping.”
After high school, he plans on attending college to become an engineer. He’s spent two summers doing manual labor, and he knows it’s not for him. “I don’t want to be a grunt all my life,” he says. His summer jobs “have inspired me to get a degree.” He’s not sure what branch of engineering, but he doesn’t want an office job.
Kelton has two older sisters, Bailey and Macey. He is the son of Sid and Kristi Adair-Mignery.
story by Ruth Nicolaus Shealynn Rasmussen had plenty to juggle on her high school graduation weekend. Not only did she graduate from Burwell High School […]
story by Ruth Nicolaus Trell Shrewsbury is wrapping up his final months in the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association. The nineteen-year-old lives near Alliance, Neb., […]
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September 20, 2020
Girls All Around
1 Madison Mills 3176.75
2 Brooke Mccully 2248.35
3 Elle Ravenscroft 2232.8
4 Wacey Day 2219.93
5 Clancy Jo Brown (R) 2068.18
6 Jessica Stevens 2060.55
7 Mekenna Fisher 1996.93
8 Faith Storer 1756.85
9 Emma Ohm 1720.71
10 Abigail Lawton 1577.7
Boys All Around
1 Cooper Bass 2348.35
2 Rhett Witt 2238.35
3 Zane Kreikemeier 1579.85
4 Cody Miller 1548.61
5 Sage Schrunk 1521.75
6 Tanner Drueke 1520.7
7 Jate Saults 1379.6
8 Coy Johnston 1225.65
9 Cole Kerner 1079.25
10 Sid Miller 1076.6
Bareback Riding
1 Tanner Drueke 73
2 Tate Miller 63
3 Cole Kerner 47
4 Spencer Denaeyer 46
Barrel Racing
1 Elle Ravenscroft 87
2 Taci Flinn 57
3 Brooke Mccully 57
4 Madison Mills 56
5 Jenae Whitaker 35
6 Bailey Bell 32
7 Ashlyn Henderson 30
8 Ashlyn Jensen 30
9 Mekenna Fisher 28
10 Morgan Rosander 28
Boys Cutting
1 Cooper Bass 81
2 Cody Miller 73.5
3 Tatum Olson 66
4 Hayden Jennings 63.5
5 Bo Bushhousen 60.5
6 Frazier Kaelin 56
7 Matt Symonds 54.5
8 Trey Vance 45
9 Devin Konicek 41.5
10 Hayden Stump 32.5
Breakaway Roping
1 Emma Ohm 49
2 Summer Richardson 38
3 Tehya From 38
4 Ali Vaughn 38
5 Wacey Day 37
6 Jaya Nelson 34
7 Jessica Stevens 27
8 Jace Hurlburt 24.5
9 Shayda Vaughn 24
10 Whitney Jennings 24
Bull Riding
1 Jett Sjeklocha 28
2 Cole Kerner 27.5
3 Dalton Garey 20
4 Tanner Drueke 19
5 Drew Farrell 10
6 Hunter Boydston 9.5
7 Brady Painter 9
8 Cooper Kursave 8
Girls Cutting
1 Faith Storer 112
2 Mekenna Fisher 99
3 Emma Pearson 74.5
4 Peyton Fisher 68
5 Gracyn Hicks 64
6 Whitney Jennings 62
7 Jenna Rutar 36.5
8 Jordan Downing 11
Goat Tying
1 Jessica Stevens 77
2 Wacey Day 68.5
3 Emma Ohm 56
4 Abigail Lawton 49
5 Kaci Wickersham 49
6 Ally Micheel 43.5
7 Ashlyn Henderson 43
8 Emma Warren 42
9 Kinley Greenough 39
10 Clancy Jo Brown 29.5
Pole Bending
1 Madison Mills 100
2 Clancy Jo Brown 65
3 Abigail Lawton 58
4 Jenae Whitaker 53
5 Emma Pearson 44
6 Lauren Lehl 34
7 Ashlyn Jensen 29
8 Brooke Mccully 28
9 Jordan Peterson 27
10 Elle Ravenscroft 24.5
Saddle Bronc
1 Brody Mcabee 60
2 Monte Bailey 30
3 Leif Meidell 19
4 Dean Schroder 9
Steer Wrestling
1 Rhett Witt 60
2 Dane Pokorny 50
3 Tucker Ravenscroft 46
4 Sage Schrunk 42
5 Coy Johnston 40
6 Thayne Kimbrough 39
7 Dalton Kunkee 35
8 Cody Miller 33
9 Gage Davis 33
10 Kaden Wooters 33
Team Roping
1 Jate Saults 58
2 Brent Charlton 52
3 Cooper Bass 43
4 Zack Bradley 43
5 Jasper Neal 38
6 Sage Dieter 38
7 Zane Kreikemeier 33
8 Coy Johnston 33
9 Ryan Shepherd 30
10 Carter Anderson 30
11 Sage Schrunk 30
12 Hayse Wetzel 30
13 Cinch Painter 28
14 Roper Wetzel 25
15 Chance Symons 23
Tie Down Roping
1 Rhett Witt 62
2 Zane Kreikemeier 56
3 Matthew Miller 50
4 Sid Miller 47
5 Tate Talkington 46
6 Layne Wallinger 43
7 Jate Saults 31
8 Sage Schrunk 30
9 Trace Travnicek 28
10 Carter Anderson 25
