By Matt Gade

605 Sports

STURGIS — A year after claiming the All-Around Cowgirl Rookie title at the National High School Finals Rodeo, Sturgis’ Arina Haugen is headed back to nationals and ready to represent South Dakota once again.

As this year’s South Dakota All-Around Cowgirl, the sophomore cowgirl will head into the NHSFR on July 13-19 in Rock Springs, Wyoming, to compete in the barrel races and pole bending competitions.

Last year, Haugen recorded an 840 to claim the rookie cowgirl title while finishing fourth in the girls’ All-Around at Nationals.

“I'm super pumped I made it,” Haugen said. “I only made it in two events this year, but I'm excited because I get to use my horse named Chili. She's really talented, and I know I can win on her. So that's kind of fun, knowing that you can go in and hopefully come away with a national title.”

Arina Haugen, of Sturgis, competes in the pole bending during the Northwest Regional SDHSRA rodeo on Saturday, June 14 in Dupree. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

Haugen is just the next in line for the Haugen family to shine in rodeo competitions. With both her parents, Dee and Tyler, competing professionally in rodeos, Arina’s older sister, Landry, just finished competing in ladies breakaway and goat tying at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming. Landry, who competed for the University of Wyoming, finished eighth in goat tying.

“We all do it, I think it's just in our blood,” Arina said of competing in rodeo. “I just love to compete and win. And my parents really enjoyed it, so they've given me every opportunity to be good at it.”

For the Haugen family, they found themselves splitting time traveling back and forth between Casper and Fort Pierre, supporting their two oldest daughters as they competed in their rodeos.

“During that week, we had to kind of juggle,” Arina said. “My parents, they went to Casper for her college finals, and then they were here in Pierre with me the rest of the week. You have to divide and conquer a lot of the time, but it's super fun.

“It was on ESPN, so I kind of tried to watch it live as much as I could, and just kept up… It was so busy. I had seven events here. I had a bunch of horses to take care of, so it was busy, but I got to kind of keep track of her (Landry).”

In the South Dakota High School Rodeo Association state finals, Arina defeated Pierre’s Ryen Sheppick 326 to 272 for the girls’ all-around. Arina took second in the pole bending and third in the barrel races while finishing fifth in girls’ cutting, one spot out of qualifying for nationals.

Haugen said she just loves competing. 

And that sometimes includes competing against her family members, including Landry.

“It's always kind of just me versus me. But then we kind of have a little side deal going, like we have a saddle count, who's won the most saddles? And I really like when we enter the same rodeo and we're competing against each other, it's kind of fun,” Arina said. “I obviously want to win first, but then I want her to win the second. So we compete, but I also want to see her win, and it's just kind of an ongoing battle between us two.”

Arina said she’s starting to catch up to her older sister and hopes to beat her saddle count by the time she finishes high school.

Although Arina said she expects her other sister, Blaisely, to garner even more wins than her.

“I think she'll, honestly, be better than both of us just because she's watched both of us compete,” Arina said of Blaisely. “She can learn the things that we do and learn what not to do from us, too. It’s definitely fun to have siblings at rodeo, and we learn from each other a lot of the time. So that's kind of fun.”

In the 2024 NHSFR, Arina finished 5th in the breakaway, 12th in pole bending and 15th in the barrel races.

Arina Haugen, of Sturgis, competes in the breakaway during the Northwest Regional SDHSRA rodeo on Saturday, June 14 in Dupree. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

This year, Arina said she's excited to see how well she and her horse do together, but says breakaway and team roping are her favorite events.

“I think it's going to be a great year. I'm riding my barrel/pole horse, and riding her super well. She feels great. And, you know, I just want to win,” Arina said. “I want to show off my horse and show what she can do. Because she was a world champion in the pool bending and reserve world champion in the barrel races from the previous owner. So I know she can do it. 

“And I just want to do my best job and just have fun. I mean, it's fun to compete, but it's also fun to win.”

Arina, who just finished her sophomore year at Sturgis Brown High School, said her end goal is to eventually win the girls’ All-Around by the time her high school career is over.

“I don't think that a girl has won the All-Around from South Dakota in quite a while, so I'm hoping that by the end of my high school career that I can bring one home,” Arina said. “That's a big goal of mine.”

If she were to accomplish that goal, Haugen would be just the third girl from South Dakota to ever claim the title and the first since 1968 when Jean Vroman earned the title. Connie Stinson was the first to do it from South Dakota in 1960.

For now, Arina said she said while winning is her favorite, she really enjoys competing, hanging out with her friends, who she also competes against, and watching how her horses continue to get better over time.

Arina Haugen, of Sturgis, competes in the barrel races during the Northwest Regional SDHSRA rodeo on Saturday, June 14 in Dupree. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)