The Garden City Telegram
NEW E-Edition!
Subscription
Required
Add Your Comment | Read (0) Comments
Rodeo royalty: Beef Empire Days queen crowned
Published 6/11/2011 in Beef Empire Days-Entertainment
By RACHAEL GRAY
rgray@gctelegram.com
For the 2011 PRCA Beef Empire Days Rodeo Queen title, the competition was tough.
1
Rachael Gray/Telegram Beef Empire Days PRCA Rodeo Princesses and queen candidates posed Friday afternoon after the queen's luncheon that featured a style show, speech and question-and-answer session. The candidates were judged on horsemanship Friday morning.
2
Wasko
Both the judges and the sponsors agreed it was hard to choose the top princess and queen candidate.
Cassandra Wasko was crowned queen Friday night at the Finney County Fairgrounds arena in front of the large rodeo crowd.
Wasko, donning bright pink denim jeans and her new tiara around the crown of her cowgirl hat, said after Friday's announcement she was "shocked" to have won.
The 20-year-old who hails originally from Hanston said she'd been doing patterns on her horse, Samson, for only two weeks prior.
"I plan on traveling as much as possible and making as many appearances as possible," Wasko said.
And following Friday's announcement, both the newly named Beef Empire Days queen and Chelsie Callihan, 15, Colby, who was crowned princess Friday night, took victory laps on horseback around the arena.
The candidates were first judged Friday morning on horsemanship, or the ability to be agile on the horse, force lead changes during figure-eight patterns and their ability to handle their horses.
At noon, the candidates participated in a style show and luncheon, during which they modeled in the arena and wore dresses. They gave speeches and answered a question on rodeo.
The candidates are judged on personality, horsemanship, appearance, presentation and rodeo knowledge.
This year's competition was tough, according to judges and sponsors.
DeAnna Power, 2005 Miss Rodeo Kansas, who now lives in Rye, Colo., after growing up in Garden City, was one of the judges.
She said all of the candidates showed promise and that it would be hard to pick just one.
"This is a really good group of girls. I'm excited to see the next generation of rodeo queens," she said.
Power said the most difficult part of the competition is the question-and-answer portion.
"You never now exactly how or what will be asked," she said.
The best part, she said, is the horsemanship.
"Most of the girls are comfortable on a horse. It's second nature to them," she said.
Sharon Wormwood, who helps with the event, said in past years, not many girls have shown interest. This year, the event had a strong showing with four queen candidates and two princess candidates, she said.
"These girls are great assets to the queen competition," she said.
Wormwood used to be in charge, and now Wally Garcia is the chairman of the queen competition.
"But I couldn't stay away," she said.
Wormwood said she enjoys the girls, parents and camaraderie of the competition.
She also enjoys some of the answers the girls come up with.
When asked whether she would choose red or pink, Krissie May, 11, Clearwater princess candidate, said she'd choose pink, which was fitting for the "Tough enough to wear pink" night at the rodeo.
"It's my favorite color. And I'm one of those girls who is tough enough to wear it," she said.
Other queen candidates were Erin Harvey, 16, Salina; Shayla Cobb, 16, Coldwater; and Jayce Apsley, 18, Satanta.
Callihan and May were both princess candidates.
Staff writer Shajia Ahmad contributed to this report.
Found 0 comment(s)!