TEAM FLORIDA AT NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL FINALS RODEO SANDERS AND CLEMONS 2021 CHAMPS, OTHERS COMPETE IN NEBRASKA
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Written by: Kathy Ann Gregg
he Sunshine State has a pair of National High School Finals Rodeo champions. Ava Grayce Sanders of Vero Beach is the country’s top barrel-racer, Cole Clemons of Okeechobee its best tie-down roper.
High schoolers from 39 states, three Canadian provinces and Mexico converged on the Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, July 18-24. Top contestants in each of 13 events competed in two of the 12 performances to narrow the field to the “best of the best” and for a chance at stardom. And it is the Short
Go Round, ironically performance 13, that determines the ultimate champions.
MEET THE BEST
A sophomore and in her first year competing in the Florida High School Rodeo Association, Sanders placed first in performance 4, at 17.501 seconds, third in her second run at 17.525 seconds. With 20 racers in the Short Go Round, Sanders and her horse, King, kept their pace with a time of 17.547 seconds. The pair’s consistency in the three runs gave them the win in the average, ultimately a national title. She was with King in his stall when the announcement was made. “Coming in
Ava Grayce Sanders
Ava Grayce Sanders of Vero Beach rounds a barrel aboard King in her run to a national championship, Myakka City's Cayden Newsome, right, in this first place tie-down roping run of 9.82 seconds in performance 12.
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F LO R I D A C O U NTRY O c t o b e r | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 1
Cayden Newsome
LEFT PHOTO COURTESY OF ACENTRIC PHOTOS, RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF CAYDEN NEWSOME
RODEO PROFILE
