HEBER CITY — With her 25-year-old horse Janie feeling her age, Ashlee Peterson decided to spend her senior year focused only on the event she and Janie do best — breakaway roping.
The Salem Hills graduate is this year's event director after finishing second in breakaway roping at the National High School Finals Rodeo last summer. She and Janie qualified for Saturday's Championship Round after earning the day's fastest time Friday despite constant, cold rain.
The top 10 high school rodeo athletes will compete in the championship round Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Wasatch County Fairgrounds in Heber City. After that performance, the top four from each event will be honored with a berth on the team that will represent Utah at the National High School Finals Rodeo in July.
Peterson is coached by her father, Scott, who is a team roper himself.
"It's the one thing I love to do," Ashlee Peterson said of breakaway roping. She said learning the sport from her father is both a challenge and a blessing.
"It brings you closer together," she said. "And then there's the disagreements where we butt heads."
Peterson made things tougher on herself when she decided to take up a new sport her senior year.
"It was just a senior year thing," said Peterson, "I wanted to do something different. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be."
Peterson's mom, Tami, was shocked when her daughter expressed interest in trying out for the drill team.
"I said, 'Well, OK,' but she'd never danced in her life," said Tami Peterson, as she huddled under an umbrella with her only daughter Friday night. "But then she made it."
While some doubted her ability to pick up the technically difficult steps, the team's coach told her mother at the end of the season, she never doubted Ashlee was capable.
"She said, 'I saw something in her,' " Tami Peterson said. She ended up being good enough to dance in every single number the team performed.
But drill did take her away from the sport that has become the family's favorite way to bond.
"She missed all but three rodeos in the fall," said Tami Peterson. "That hurt."
While the sport can be time-consuming and expensive, Tami Peterson said she wouldn't trade her time on the road with her family for anything. For most athletes, parental involvement isn't just helpful, it's an absolute necessity.
"It's very expensive, and a lot of time commitment," she said. "All my kids started at 5 years old. Every weekend we were traveling all over the state. It's an awesome family sport. Tons of laughs, lots of memories. The time you spend together, you'll never regret. It's the best."
While she's seen her daughter learn about hard work and how to care for another living thing from rodeo, she gained some valuable life lessons from drill team as well.
"Rodeo is a very individual sport, so for her, she learned to work together as a team," Tami Peterson said. "And that's a great life skill."
The qualifiers for Saturday's Championship Round
Bareback riding
1. Colton Crystal; 2. Riley Clyde; 3. Joe Frost; 4. Miles Moosman; 5. Dillon Rydalch; 6. Lex Ju; 7. Preston Barnett; 8. Coburn Bradshaw; 9. Corey Simpson; 10. Chase Wilson.
Barrel Racing
1. Timmi Ward; 2. Carol Lee Holt; 3. McKale Hadley; 4. Jody Burt; 5. Emilee Holmes; 6. Kyna Hafen; 7. Teisha Banks; 8. Shaylee Thacker; 9. Stacey Taylor; 10. Whitney Christensen.
Boys Cutting
1. Dax Hadlock; 2. Morgan King; 3. Tanner Denton; 4. Collin Pace; 5. Dustin Pace; 6. Nate Mitchell; 7. Chet Boren; 8. Weslee Rose; 9. Colton Wade; 10. Devan Gonda.
Breakaway Roping
1. Codilynn Meibos; 2. Erin Gordon; 3. Ashlee Peterson; 4. Baylee Pulham; 5. Shay Bankhead; 6. Shaylee Thacker; 7. Jamie Christensen; 8. Crystal Gruber; 9. Jessie Hodson; 10. Carleigh Olson.
Bull Riding
1. Tyler Bingham; 2. Dillon Rydalch; 3. Spencer Wright; 4. Tim Bingham; 5. Chase Sherman; 6. Dixon Winn; 7. Mason Clements; 8. Justin Anderson; 8. Chancy Slaugh; 10. Tyler Finn.
Girls Cutting
1. Paige Hadlock; 2. Bobbie Jo Baker; 3. Chyanne Thacker; 4. Destrilee Allred; 4. Taylor King; 6. Makayla Russell; 7. Danielle Pace; 8. Timmi Ward; 9. McKenzie Crouch; 10. Sage Thacker.
Goat Tying
1. Jacalyn Walker; 2. Korinne Balls; 3. Hilary Anderson; 4. Page Woodward; 5. Kylee Mackelprang; 6. Kensy Howlett; 7. Carleigh Olson; 8. Meggen Hodson; 9. Sage Thacker; 10. Chelsea Jones.
Pole Bending
1. Whitney Wayment; Alexa Nielson; 3. Maysa Moody; 4. Sammi Trapp; 5. Chyeene Wilde; 6. Shaylee Thacker; 7. Ashlee Higley; 8. Calli Vantassell; 9. Makinzie Meeks; 10. Kirsten Riley.
Saddle Bronc
1. Brady Nicholes; 2. Jaren Evans; 3. Waylon Marshall; 4. Skyler Yardley; 5.. Tanner Denton; 6. Lane Nielsen; 7. Trevor O'Driscoll; 8. Tyler Baeza; 9. McKay Magoon; 10. Reno Stewart.
Steer Wrestling
1. Trever Knighton; 2. Ryli Sutch; 3. Kade Jacobs; 4. Shane Hancock; 5. Digger Morgan; 6. Chet Boren; 7. Jackson Nelson; 8. Garrison Cannon; 9. Levi Wiberg; 10. Kolby Hughes.
Team roping
1. Dalton Critton and Wyatt Huxford; 2. Taylor Winn and Quinn Kesler; 3. Ryan Anderson and Garrison Cannon; 4. Chase Sanders and Justin Brinkerhoff; 5. Digger Morgan and Luke Slagowski; 6. Colton Martino and Kelly Hipwell; 7.. Dallin Kemp and Brady Ramone; 8. Reno Thomas and Houson Thomas; 9. Brandon Beckstead and Nick Morris; 10. Wyatt Caldwell and Cameron Smith.
Tiedown Roping
1. Kelton Morse; 2. Gus Hansen; 3. Kolby Hughes; 4. Colton Mooney; 5. Clay Crozier; 6. Wayce Pulham; 7. John Nelson; 8. Zachary Harrell; 9. Mckay Magoon; 10. Dallin Kem
e-mail: adonaldson@desnews.com