Written by: Siri Stevens

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Devon Waters is a steady kind of guy. “You just have to keep consistent,” is his motto, and he applies it not only to his rodeo, but his education and extracurricular activities. The fourteen year old cowboy who lives near Meade, Kan., in the southwest part of the state is a member of the Kansas Junior High Rodeo Association. He competes in the dally ribbon roping (with Carlie Jones as his runner), team roping, tie-down roping, goat tying, and chute dogging. Of all his events, tie-down is his favorite.

He rides a buckskin pony named Jet for the tie-down, goats and heeling, and a roan horse named Roanie for the dally ribbon roping and the tie-down. His header is Cinch Bullock, who lives in Campo, Colo.
Many weekends Devon can be found practicing at his cousin Shade Etbauer’s house in Goodwell, Okla. Shade, a sophomore in college, is also a tie-down and team roper (as well as steer wrestler and saddle bronc rider), and he and Devon practice together. Shade goes to school at Oklahoma Panhandle State University, along with Cinch’s older brother Caleb, and Shade and Caleb are a great help to Devon.

Devon is an eighth grade student at Meade Junior High, where the best part of the day is social studies. He loves his teacher, Mr. Leiker, who makes learning fun. Devon loves learning about American history, and if he could choose a person to meet from the past, he’d choose his Great-Grandpa Poteet, who was a World War II veteran and who “inspired me a bunch.” Devon faintly remembers his grandpa, who died not long after he was born, and loved him very much.

He participates in track, where he runs the mile, the 800m, the 400m, and the 4×4 relay. He loves to read the Great Illustrated Classics, adaptations of great works by Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and others. His favorite so far is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and his favorite book ever is Hatchet by Gary Paulsen.

He has been a member of Little Britches Rodeo since he was seven. Devon is in his first year as a senior in Little Britches, and competes in the team roping, tie-down, and ribbon roping. He heels for Sean Doherty of Branson, Colo., and his dally ribbon roping partner is J.D. Draper of Oakley, Kan. He made it to the Little Britches Nationals from 2008 through 2013. In 2012, he finished third in the world in the goat tying, and this year, he finished sixth.

He has two older sisters, Kaylee, who is 25, and Shayla, who is 21, who pick on him incessantly. He is the son of J.A. and JoBeth Waters. When he grows up, he’d like to attend Panhandle State and then run a ranch in southwestern Kansas.