Uvalde high school rodeo contestants welcoming ‘good distraction’ weeks after shooting

Barrel racer McKenzie Speer sat atop her horse in the stables June 10, waiting patiently to burst through the gates and into the arena at the Texas High School Finals Rodeo.

A native of Uvalde, Speer’s palms grasped the ropes strapped to her horse as the gates opened and they bolted. Speer and her horse dashed around four barrels in the designated pattern, finishing the race in 17.684 seconds.

Two and a half weeks prior to the rodeo, a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School devastated her community. The shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead.

More: Uvalde school police chief defends shooting response, says he didn't know he was in charge

The tragedy has been on the minds of every one of the town’s residents — young and old — since May 24.

But for those 17.684 seconds, Speer was just a normal high school kid riding a horse again.

“It was just so nice,” Speer said. “My mind wasn’t on it at all.”

Speer was one of seven competitors from the south Texas town at the high school rodeo. Nestled on the outskirts of the Hill Country 80 miles west of San Antonio, Uvalde is a hub town for rodeo.

The community’s love for riding, roping and wrestling helped numb the pain in the wake of a national tragedy.

“It’s good to have something that distracts you a little bit and gets your mind off the grief,” said Maddie Aasbo, a rodeo competitor and recent graduate of Uvalde High School.

Photo Gallery: 2022 Texas High School Rodeo Association Finals

Heartbreaking day

Uvalde’s rodeo competitors were in different places the day when the horrifying news broke.

Some of them were in town, others weren’t.

Speer was in Gonzales for the state junior high rodeo, where her younger sister was competing. Aasbo was in Pearsall, a town roughly an hour southeast of Uvalde, where she works.

But all seven of the teens felt the same way: devastated.

“It was really upsetting and really sad,” Speer said.

Speer didn’t know any of the victims personally, but she had a few connections to the tragedy.

The incoming sophomore said she has younger cousins who usually attend Robb Elementary, but they were absent on the day of the shooting. And one of Speer’s best friends is a youth gymnastics teacher, who previously taught one of the students who died.

Because of Aasbo’s job in Pearsall, she didn’t spend much time in Uvalde in the weeks following the shooting. And she didn’t have any personal connections to the victims.

But that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking — everyone in the community grieved in their own way.

“Even though I didn’t know anyone, I live in that town and I was impacted to a certain degree,” Aasbo said. “It was hard for everybody.”

Preparing for the rodeo

At the time of the shooting, Uvalde’s high school rodeo regular season had concluded.

They had just two weeks until the year’s culminating event, held at Taylor Telecom Arena in Abilene.

Speer, who participates in barrel racing and breakaway roping, admitted it was hard for her to concentrate on the upcoming competition amid the chaos and sadness.

“It was really sad and that made it hard for me to focus,” Speer said.

Aasbo said it didn’t really affect her preparation. The recent graduate did what she could to put all of her energy into her final high school rodeo in the weeks following the tragedy.

And it actually made Aasbo work harder.

“It pushed me harder to make Uvalde proud,” Aasbo said.

Love from neighbors

With a population of 15,217, Uvalde is the capital of Region VIII of the Texas High School Rodeo Association.

Region VIII makes up the southmost part of Texas and consists of Laredo, Pleasanton and San Antonio, among other cities.

The Uvalde County Fairplex was the host site of all 10 of the region’s high school and junior high school rodeos for the past season, from September to March.

As Uvalde mourned, the neighboring communities lent a helping hand.

Garrett Talamantes, a team roper from Carrizo Springs, organized a concert in Hondo on June 5, raising funds for Uvalde. He also sang and played guitar in his truck bed at the arena parking lot Wednesday, and he accepted donations.

Located 50 miles south of Uvalde, Carrizo Springs is a Region VIII town. Talamantes said he has become friends with most of Uvalde’s rodeo competitors as a result of competing at the same rodeos.

While Talamantes is a rival of Uvalde’s competitors inside the arena, love is stronger than the rivalry.

“It’s just really cool to support them,” Talamantes said. “I’m friends with a lot of them, so I’m glad I’m able to do it.”

In addition to Talamantes’ fundraising concerts, several Region VIII members chipped in to make a large banner reading “Uvalde Strong” at the top of the seating area at their arena. And several riders — from every region — wore ribbons honoring those who lost their lives May 24.

“Region VIII is one big family,” Aasbo said.

Kyla Dodson is a real estate agent who recently moved to Weatherford from Uvalde. She had a booth for her real estate company, Let’s Talk Land, at the rodeo.

Dodson lived in Uvalde for 25 years, while her husband, John, is a fourth-generation Uvalde native. And Kyla is originally from Kerrville, another Region VIII town.

John and Kyla each raised horses growing up, and their daughter Rylee was formerly the THSRA Region VIII student president.

Their love for both the Uvalde area and rodeo is almost unmatched.

Kyla Dodson was moved by the outpour of support, but she wasn’t surprised.

“Just like a rodeo family does, you’re loved and you’re supported,” Dodson said. “They all love Uvalde because Uvalde loves them.”

Making Uvalde proud

In addition to Speer and Aasbo, the other Uvalde competitors were Liza Elder (barrel racing), Grace Moore (goat tying), Carly Colvin (goat tying, pole bending), Willie Garcia (calf roping, team roping) and Tres Colvin (calf roping, steer wrestling).

Tres Colvin finished second in steer wrestling and will compete at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming, next month.

More: Grit marks final day of Texas High School Rodeo Association state finals

Others from Uvalde turned in solid performances. Aasbo finished 40th in goat tying and Carly Colvin was 33rd in pole bending.

The seven Uvalde state rodeo competitors were friends before the tragedy, and their bond is even closer after it. Their unbreakable friendship allowed them to grieve together and stay focused ahead of the season’s biggest event.

“With the sadness that went on, it just brought us together as a family more,” Aasbo said. “It shows how tight our bond is.”

Speer added, “To see the community like this, it’s really sad, but we’ve come together. We all know it could’ve been one of our siblings or someone we know.”

With the competitors were parents, friends and other loved ones, huddled into the stands at the arena. Under the banner reading “Uvalde Strong” they watched with awe as the town’s young cowboys and cowgirls made them proud.

For a community that has experienced an immeasurable amount of hurt in the last month, Uvalde’s seven young riders did what they could to inspire hope at Texas high school rodeo’s grandest stage.

“I hope they see that even though we went through what we did, we still pushed through and we still do what we love,” Aasbo said. “We just have to continue to give God the glory.”

More: Abilene High’s Biloxi Shultz representing hometown at state rodeo finals

Carson Field is the area sports reporter for the Abilene Reporter-News. He covers primarily Big Country high school sports. If you appreciate locally driven news, you can support local journalists with a digital subscription to reporternews.com.

This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Uvalde high schoolers compete at rodeo weeks after shooting