More than 1200 Youth competitors from more than 30 states, including 20 contestants from Montana, were at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie OK to compete for championship honors and nearly $380,000 in awards and scholarships.
Carter Howell, age 12 from Huntley, MT, left the arena winning the Junior Girls Goat Tying. Making her a two time World Champion.
Carter, who most recently was the Montana Junior High Goat Tying Champion, competed this week in 5 events: Barrel Racing, Trail, Breakaway, Goat Tying, Ribbon Roping, and Team Roping. Throughout the week, she earned points in four of her events by placing in the top 15 and qualified for the Short Go, which takes the top 20 contestants back in each event, in Goat Tying, Ribbon Roping, and Trail. Her most successful event of the week was Goat Tying. She placed 7th out of 170 junior girls in the first go with a time of 8.71. In the second go, she set a new personal best with a time of 8.15. She placed second and earned her spot into the short go, sitting second in the average. During the Montana State Junior High Finals and at the National Junior High Finals, Carter struggled with the pressures of the short go, falling during her dismount both times and not having her best runs. However, for the Little Britches Short Go, she held everything together, tied a solid 8.59 which was 6th in the performance, and fast enough to win her both the average and the World Champion title.
It's the second time Howell has captured a world champion. Her first Little Britches World Champion title was back in 2015 as the Little Wrangler Flag Racing World Champion. Click here for Carter first TV interview back in 2015.
Little brother Chase Howell, who is nine years old, also had a pretty great week, making solid runs in all four of his events: Barrels, Poles, Goat Tail Untying, and Flag Racing. For him, Flags was his best event. He placed 7th out of 140 Little Wranglers in the first go-round but struggled in the second round after hitting a barrel just hard enough to knock his foot out the stirrup. He got a time which put him 10th in the average and qualified him for his first National Short Go. He made his fastest run of the week during the Short Go, a 7.25 and ended 4th in Average, and 5th in the World Standings.
Two other Montana cowboys finished in the top ten in two different rodeo events in Guthrie.
Garrett Cunningham of Broadus finished 5th in the world in the Senior Saddle Bronc riding in Guthrie. Last fall, Garrett won a national title in the Senior Saddle Bronc event at the 2017 Junior NFR in Las Vegas! Click here for more on his Junior NFR Title.
Also, representing Eastern Montana, Ray Torgerson from Miles City finished 8th in the world standings for the Junior Boys Bull Riding.
Over the past year, Aspen Swenson of Ballantine has represented the National Little Britches Rodeo Association as the 2017 Little Wrangler Princess. Swenson served as a rodeo ambassador and represented the NLBRA at multiple rodeos across the nation.
Congratulations to all the rodeo athletes that competed in Oklahoma this past week!
Jamie Howell and Northern Ag Network
