A southwest Iowa teen is competing to become the National High School Rodeo Queen this weekend at the finals in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Katie Howe, a junior at Fremont-Mills, says it’s been a longtime goal of hers to win this crown.
“It’s a three-day competition and I compete in a couple different events,” Howe says. “That includes the speech, modeling, I take a written test, I do an interpersonal interview, and then I’m judged on a couple of different other things like appearance and personality.”
Howe says it’s a thrill to represent the area and the state of Iowa in the national competition. She says she was inspired to seek rodeo royalty after meeting a rodeo queen a few years ago.
“She encouraged me to try my best,” Howe says. “A couple of my friends have run for it in the past. They’ve been a huge inspiration, and they’ve told me how much fun that they’ve had and how many opportunities it’s opened for them.”
The coronation ceremony is scheduled for tomorrow night. Howe’s brother Noah is also in Lincoln this weekend for the rodeo’s steer wrestling competition.
(By Derek Martin, KMA, Shenandoah)