When Kristy Hughes, a Weber State College student, was named Miss Rodeo Utah this year it was another title in a long tradition of rodeo queens from WSC.
In fact nine of the past 10 state queens have been students at Weber State.That same number of WSC students own Miss Rodeo Ogden titles, and three Miss Rodeo America queens have attended the Ogden college.
That is due mostly to the fact that the Ogden rodeo queen contest is one of the most difficult in the state, and most girls who compete in the Ogden competition attend Weber State, said Elizabeth Goff, an Ogden resident and former director of the Utah rodeo queen contest.
"Miss Rodeo Ogden is probably the toughest contest in the state next to Miss Rodeo Utah. The competition is extremely strong," Goff said.
Utah has a national reputation for having extremely difficult requirements for rodeo queens. That makes it difficult for the girls initially, but better prepares them for national competition, Goff said.
When Hughes competes in national competition this November in Ohio, she will be following a long string of Utah successes, she said.
"Most all of these girls (who win Miss Rodeo Utah) were in the top 10 in Miss Rodeo America," she said.
Susan Merrill Barlow, a WSC student and Miss Rodeo Utah in 1971, was the first Utahn to become Miss Rodeo America. She was followed in 1974 by Connie (DellaLucia) Robinson, and in 1986 by Vicki Vest Woodard, both WSC students.
Goff, who was Miss Rodeo Ogden in 1956, directed the Miss Rodeo Ogden and Utah contests for 10 years, and noted that being a rodeo queen involves much more than "being pretty and riding well."
"This is something you really have to be dedicated to," she said. "There is a lot of time and a lot of money involved."
Queens are judged on overall personality, on appearance and on horsemanship, she said.
The girls are required to give speeches, and judges interview each contestant on her knowledge of current affairs, rodeo clothing and equipment. The contestants must know the name for each piece of gear used on a horse and how it's used, must know each of that year's prominent rodeo cowboys and their strengths and also must be able to physically handle any horse they are required to ride, she said.
"Hours and hours are required, and it's very much a family affair. A little gal cannot participate unless she has someone to back her up," Goff said.
"It's a real growing experience for the girls, and they have to be tough-skinned too."
And the competition is not without dangers.
This year's Miss Rodeo Ogden, April Rose, crushed her pelvic bones during last year's competition when the horse she was riding reared over backwards.
"A little gal really has to be dedicated. It's not just go out there and sit on a horse and look pretty. People don't realize how much time is involved," Goff said.