HS Finals Rodeo: Kalispell cowgirl 20th in pole bending

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — Kalispell’s Heidi Schmid ran her second attempt in the pole bending competition in 25.648 seconds on Thursday at the National High School Finals Rodeo, placing the Flathead High School senior in 20th place in the go.

Schmid is in 41st for the second round, the leaders posting scores under 20 seconds. Her average time over the two rounds is 51.967 seconds, which puts her in 46th place. She finished the first round in 132nd.

St. Ignatius’ Will Powell competed in steer wrestling in the Thursday night rodeo session. Results weren’t available at press time.

Powell and Cut Bank teammate Caleb Guardipee won the first round team roping competition, timing at 5.88 seconds to top a Texas team by .10 seconds. They were the only two teams to finish in less than 6 seconds.

Powell finished the first round in 10th for all-around cowboy.

Montana finished the team standings in 12th place out of 42 states present, finishing 12th in the boys standings and 14th in the girls.

Of the prominent in-state finishers in the first round, Choteau’s Celie Salmond was third in pole bending and Manhattan’s Tara Hansen was fourth in barrel racing. Sidney’s Seth Indergard finished fifth in steer wrestling and Volborg’s Jess Lockwood scored a 79 in the final bull riding performance of the first round to place second overall.