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Colorado Jr. High Rodeo Association (CJHRA)
Members
Meet the Member: Rudy Mendiola
November 1, 2021
Story by Ruth Nicolaus Rudy Mendiola knows he’s been blessed with good horses, good friends, good family, and rodeo. The Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association member, a resident of Silverthorne, Colorado, appreciates what he has. He appreciates his horses: Revolver and his friend’s horse, Buttermilk, he loves his friends, who he can turn to for help with schoolwork and for fun times, and he loves his mom, dad and little brother. As a breakaway…
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Meet the Member Ava Dole
September 23, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus They say animals take on the characteristics of their owners, and for Ava Dole, that’s true. The Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association member is kind, easy to get along with, isn’t lazy, and gives her all when she attempts something, just like her bay mare, Christine. She rides Christine for all her events: goat tying, barrel racing, pole bending, breakaway roping, and team roping (heeling for Ryan Pankey). Christine is…
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Meet the Member Jaycee Yonkers
July 22, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus Jaycee Yonkers rides a very special horse. Charlotte, her barrel racing horse, was purchased by Jaycee’s mom, Nicole, as a three-year-old. The bay mare was small and didn’t show much potential. But Nicole trained her, and Charlotte has done very well for both her and Jaycee. The Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association member also competes in the ribbon roping (running for Cactus Barnes), the goat tying and the pole bending.…
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Meet the Member Foster Krempin
May 20, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus Foster Krempin is loving his first year of Colorado Junior High School Rodeo. The Granby, Colo. cowboy, who is fifteen years old, competes in the team roping (this year heeling for Luci Bruchez); the ribbon roping (roping for Luci); the goat tying, chute dogging, the tie-down and shooting. He has two horses he uses for junior high rodeo. Sniper, a five-year-old red blaze face horse is primarily his heel horse. Sniper…
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Meet the Member Ben Sittler
April 22, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus Ben Sittler loves rodeo, fishing, and the movie Eight Seconds. In fact, the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association athlete has seen the movie so many times, he can say the words along with the actors, “and I can get into trouble sometimes when I do that,” he said, with his family members. A bull rider, this is his first year of junior high school rodeo competition. The fourteen-year-old rode sheep…
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Meet the Member Cactus Barnes
February 25, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus Cactus Barnes’ life can be summed up pretty simply: rodeo, showing steers, shooting guns, and moving cows. And it’s not a bad life for the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association member. The fourteen-year-old, who lives near Maybell, Colorado, competes in the tie-down roping, team roping (heading for Stran Lechman), ribbon roping (roping for Jaycee Yonkers) and chute dogging. His best event is the tie-down, and for it, he rides a…
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Meet the Member Logan Durham
January 28, 2021
story by Ruth Nicolaus Logan Durham is leading the bull riding pack in Colorado. The Hamilton, Colo. cowboy, a member of the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association, started the sport four years ago, at the age of ten, and this year, his final year of junior high com-petition, sits 22 points ahead of the number two rider. Logan got involved in the sport when his mother looked into something her small-statured sons, including older…
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Meet the Member Jolene Rhyne
November 19, 2020
story by Ruth Nicolaus If Jolene Rhyne loves something, she’s all in for it. And the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association member is all in for rodeo, barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway and ribbon roping. The Craig, Colorado cowgirl, who is fourteen years old, rides two horses. Maia, her mare, is her goat tying and breakaway horse and is a sorrel. Hotrod, her gelding, is her barrel and pole horse. Maia is…
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Meet the Members Nathan & Wesley Lammers
September 24, 2020
story by Ruth Nicolaus The Lammers boys, Nathan and Wesley, love horses, love rodeo, love going to school, and love helping out their neighbors. The Elbert, Colo. cowboys, members of the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association, are thirteen and eleven years old, respectively. The boys team rope together, Nathan as heeler, and both do breakaway roping, goat tying, and ribbon roping. Nathan chute dogs and Wesley rifle shoots. Nathan’s strength, he believes, is the…
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Meet the Member Shaylee Spaid
August 20, 2020
story by Ruth Nicolaus For the goat tying and pole bending, the Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association cowgirl rides Hollywood, her ten-year-old gelding, a buckskin paint. Three years ago, Hollywood had ringbone, which should have ended his career. The veterinarian told the family he would never be able to run. So they turned the horse out into the pasture, prayed, and about a year later, “we saw him come running down the field, and…
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Meet the Member Whitney Lake
July 23, 2020
story by Ruth Nicolaus The COVID-19 pandemic gave Whitney Lake an opportunity to do “lunch” with her dad, Andy. And lunch usually preceded, or followed, a team roping session with dad, Andy, and older brother, Caleb, at the family arena. The Colorado Junior High School Rodeo Association cowgirl would sometimes have lunch ready for her dad when he came home, and they’d rope afterwards. Or sometimes they’d rope, then eat. Either way, the silver lining…
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Meet the Member Molly Sporeleader
June 18, 2020
story by Kendra Elder Thirteen-year-old, Molly Sporleder, from Severance, Colorado, believes rodeoing requires mental toughness and a lot of practice. Molly said rodeo is similar to the game of basketball, you need to be aggressive and willing to practice consistently. “Both sports require a lot of traveling and dedication. Between the two sports my schedule is always full.” The eighth-grader lives in Severance, Colorado and is surrounded by a family who loves her. She is…
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