Thompson, Clark place in top 20 at National Junior High Finals Rodeo

Andrew Towne
Posted 7/20/18

Four Goshen County rodeo competitors made their way to South Dakota for the National Junior High National Finals Rodeo, and for Haiden Thompson and Kyler Clark, they found their way into the top 20 in the final standings at the end of the week.

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Thompson, Clark place in top 20 at National Junior High Finals Rodeo

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HURON, S.D. – Four Goshen County rodeo competitors made their way to South Dakota for the National Junior High National Finals Rodeo, and for Haiden Thompson and Kyler Clark, they found their way into the top 20 in the final standings at the end of the week.

When the dust settled, Clark finished 19th in the average in boys’ breakaway roping in 8.49 seconds, while Haiden Thompson placed 20th in pole bending with an average of 76.503 seconds.

The NJHNFR features nearly 1,100 competitors from the United States, Canada, Australia and Mexico who took part in the event.

Thompson, in her third trip to Nationals, was the busiest of everybody, qualifying for six events, adding it was the best finals she’s attended.

“It was very busy. I was up in all 12 performances, as well as the short-go,” Thompson said. “I tried to just focus on one run at a time instead of worrying about them all at once. I made back to the short-go in one of my events and ended up in the top 20.”

Despite having a horse battling some soreness, Thompson, a homeschooled freshman through the Western Christian Academy, still managed to qualify for the championship round in pole bending out of the 172 others to record a time.

“My good horse Frosty that I do barrels and poles on was sore so I didn’t get to run her in the poles,” Thompson explained. “My goal for the poles was to just have two clean runs on my back up horse and hopefully make it back to the short-go. I was surprised that I made it back in the poles, and I was pretty happy because poles isn’t my strongest event.”

However, the rest of the week didn’t go as planned for Thompson in her other five events.

“The results in the end didn’t end like I had practiced for them to, but I was just blessed to be there and have the opportunity to compete at the National Junior High Finals,” Thompson said. “I had a great time and a great experience. As it did not go as I planned I could not have done it without my parents and older sister Jacey’s help as well as my sponsors Rock and Roll Denim and Frontier Rodeo Company.”

For Clark, an eighth grader at Southeast Junior High, he set a goal to place in the top 20 in the boys’ breakaway roping event, and it was something he knew he could do.

Mission accomplished.

“It was a great experience to be there with some of the best in the world, and to compete on a world level,” he said. “It was just fun.”

Knowing he was up against some stiff competition, he had some nerves early on.

“They go away after a little bit, know it’s just another run,” Clark said.

Getting ready for a run in the breakaway roping event isn’t anything too complicated for Clark.

“I get my rope out and kind of walk around a little just to be ready. When it’s my time to go, I just back in the box and go. I also warm up my horse so he’s not fresh when I’m riding him in the run.”

The first run for Clark was over in a blink of eye.

“First run was the second to last run of the first go-round so I had seen quite a bit of the round,” he said. “I knew I had a pretty good calf. I saw the start on him, got out and got a good throw.”

He was ninth quick with a three second run – his fastest of the weekend.

Tiegen Thompson and Cord Herring also took place in the rodeo. Tiegen finished 80th in boys’ goat tying, while Herring was 48th in tie-down roping.

Final average results

Boys breakaway roping: 19. Kyler Clark 8.49

Pole bending: 20. Haiden Thompson 76.503

Tie-down roping: 48. Cord Herring 12.75

Girls breakaway roping: 52. Haiden Thompson 3.46

Boys goat tying: 80. Tiegen Thompson 29.68

Ribbon roping: 88. Haiden Thompson 14.53

Girls goat tying: 115. Haiden Thompson 7.36

Barrel racing: 158. Haiden Thompson 15.972