Two Callaway junior high students have qualified for the National Junior High Rodeo Finals. Olivia Doggett and Quinton Boeser are both members of the Nebraska Junior High Rodeo Association. Olivia is a 7th grader at Callaway Public Schools and Quinton is an 8th grader at Callaway Public Schools.

The young cowboys and cowgirls start competition in August and participate in six rodeos throughout the year, which just finished the first week of May. “To qualify for Nationals you have to finish in the top four in that specific event,” explained Roni Boeser, mom of Quinton.

Quinton finished first in the state in saddle bronc and second in the state of Nebraska for bull riding. Olivia ended up fourth in the breakaway for the state of Nebraska. This will be Quinton’s second trip to Nationals as he also qualified last year, while Olivia will be making her inaugural appearance at the event.

This year’s finals are being held at Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Oklahoma, which will serve as the host site for the rodeo for the next 10 years. The National Junior High Finals Rodeo is recognized as one of the largest junior high rodeos in the world, featuring approximately 1,200 contestants from 43 states, five Canadian provinces, Australia, and Mexico competing for national titles, scholarships, and prizes.

The National Finals Rodeo will begin on June 21 and run through June 27. Olivia and Quinton will each compete on two of those days, and if they make it into the top 15 in the long-go rounds they will advance to the short-go.

“There are two rodeo performances each day, and the winners of each performance can get free prizes and scholarship opportunities,” said Boeser. “This year Custer County qualified seven kids for the finals – that's a lot! Between those seven kids, we have almost every event covered.”

Rodeo runs in both the Boeser and Doggett families. Roni and her husband actually met through rodeo while in college in Oklahoma. Olivia’s dad rodeoed, as have all of her siblings. Her brother Dawson, a Callaway High School alum, has qualified for the National College Rodeo Finals in Casper, Wyoming in steer wrestling, which will take place the week before the junior high finals.

According to the National High School Rodeo Association website, the NHSRA Junior High Division was established in 2004 to bring the excitement of the sport to 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and to serve as a feeder system into the high school ranks of the Association. Today, all 49 states and provinces that belong to the NHSRA also produce a Junior High Division as well, with over 4,000 members in total now competing. Junior High Division students compete in a variety of events, including barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, tie-down roping, chute dogging, team roping, ribbon roping, junior bull riding, bareback steer riding, and saddle bronc steer riding.