By Rich Winter

605 Sports

GILLETTE, Wyo. — When the bright lights come on at the Cam-plex Event Center in Gillette, Wyoming, Burke’s Piper Hanson will not be intimidated. 

Although this is her first trip to the National High School Finals Rodeo, Hanson has been to the South Dakota Class B state volleyball tournament multiple times and is one of the top hurdlers in South Dakota.

“I have some other rodeo friends that are nervous,” Piper Hanson said. “I’m used to big crowds wherever I go. So I’m just excited to get going and see what I can do.” 

A lot of rodeo athletes spend their entire year gearing up for their sport. Hanson doesn’t usually see much of the rodeo arena until late May. 

“I definitely don’t practice during track season,” she said. “The ones near me usually fall on the same weekends as Howard Wood and the state track meet.” 

Despite being at a disadvantage regarding practice time, Hanson hit the ground running in early June with top performances in the girls cutting competitions at the regional rodeos. 

Hanson had scores of 71.5 and 71 points at her two regional rodeos and entered the state competition with max points. At the South Dakota High School Finals Rodeo in June, Hanson had scores of 142, 127 and 143.

“I was second in the first go-round and won the short go,” she said. “I had a little bobble in the second go-round with about five seconds left in the round and that kinda cost me the saddle.” 

That bobble was the small misstep of putting her hand on her horse for the briefest of moments. 

 “Once you put your hand on the neck it is a five point penalty,” she said. “You can’t lead your horse during the competition and my horse Sadie stopped following it.” 

A year ago a similar bobble kept Hanson from attending her first national finals. 

“When I found out I qualified this year it was more relief,” she said. 

Hanson may not have the practice time that her other competitors have but the intensity of her practices is both unique and a tad bit scary. 

“I usually go to Frank Kenzy’s barn and practice my cutting on buffalo,” she said. 

Buffalo?

“They are faster and I feel like that better prepares me to cut cattle,” she said.