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ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — When most rising high school seniors start considering colleges, they look for schools that have great athletic training programs or study opportunities. For Jane Revercomb of Franklin County, the dream school must have a rodeo team.
Revercomb, 18, was crowned Miss Virginia High School Rodeo Queen in May. She consistently places in the top half in her events, which include barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying, and is currently ranked second in the state for Girls Rookie of the Year. She'll be traveling to Rock Springs, Wyoming, in July to represent Virginia at the 2015 National High School Finals Rodeo.
Revercomb began riding horses 10 to 13 years ago when her mother got Dakota, who happened to be a retired barrel racing horse. She didn't start riding competitively until five years ago, when she got Red, the horse she now rides at competition.
"I always loved horses, and my mom had a horse," Revercomb said. "I had lessons here and there when I was younger. It wasn't until we got Dakota that I became interested in barrel racing. After that, I just looked up some videos on YouTube and went from there."
"She pretty much taught herself," said Beth Anne Revercomb, Jane's mother. "She's loved it ever since." Though rodeo can be dangerous, her daughter has never been seriously injured while riding.
The Revercomb family owns four horses. Red is 5 years old. Dakota and Bear are 21 and 22, respectively. The only mare, Lauren, came from Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue. She is 11 and was sired by a horse from Secretariat's lineage, the Revercombs said. Their four-legged gang was recently rounded out by a 6-week-old miniature goat named Cookie.
Those who think being Miss Rodeo Queen is all glitz and glamor would not be entirely wrong.
"The Rodeo Queen leads the grand entry at the beginning of all the (high school) rodeos in Virginia. They meet people and sign autographs as well as dress up and represent the rodeo," Jane Revercomb explained.
Though she won't compete in the speed events at nationals, she will represent Virginia in her royal Rodeo Queen duds. Her outfit selections include a light pink button-up shirt with bedazzled white dogwood flowers, and a white leather dress complete with studded brads and fringe.
The Virginia High School Rodeo Association began in 1994 and is a member of the National High School Rodeo Association. According to Craig Van Holten a board member of the VHSRA, the national association includes 40 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia.
"It is a nonprofit organization that high school and home school students can join. The (VHSRA) mission is to promote the positive image of rodeos and honor the Western heritage," Van Holten said. "We also have a Junior High School Rodeo, and together there are 69 kids who participate."
Not only does the VHSRA travel all over Virginia, but in November they travel to Perry, Georgia, for the Seven State High School Rodeo competition. They even make it up to West Virginia and Pennsylvania to compete.
"The rodeo is great to watch," Van Holten said. "It's fun to see the kids compete and have such a love for the sport."
The kids get something out of it, too. At the nationals in Wyoming, which is the largest rodeo in the world, participants will compete for scholarships, according to Van Holten, with around 1,500 competitors.
To prepare for her presentation at nationals, Jane Revercomb has been reviewing and studying the rulebook and the horsemanship pattern in which she'll lead Red around the rodeo circle. Everything should be meticulous to show adequate knowledge of the relationship between horse and rider, she said.
What she enjoys the most about rodeo, she said, is the constant support from other riders — and the friendly competition. "I have made so many friends just through rodeo. I can't even count . I also just really love and care for horses."
Part of being Rodeo Queen for Revercomb is being the face that represents the hardworking people in the sport.
"There are so many parents, sponsors and kids on our team that go beyond the expectations to set up the arena and pack it back up, announcing, working the gate and so much more to make this all possible for us behind the scenes. (My) duty is to promote the sport of rodeo and to educate people that don't know a whole lot about what we do."
As a rider she hopes to see more people become attracted to rodeo and competing.
Next year, she will be a senior at Franklin County High School, so she has already started to think about college.
"I would love to go to University of Tennessee at Martin and study to become a veterinary technician," she said.
She won't be leaving rodeo behind, though. "UTM has a rodeo team that I would love to be a part of. They travel to the Ozark region to compete," she said. "That would just be a great opportunity."
This summer, the rodeo will take up a good amount of Jane Revercomb's time, but she does plan to find time for other fun, including showing her dairy goats and cows, swimming and fishing at the lake, hiking, and spending time with her friends.
It just happens that sometimes, those friends have four legs and weigh more than 1,000 pounds.
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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com
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