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Barrel racer Shelby Surls returned to the 2010 International Finals Youth Rodeo after taking a break last year and this time, she brought along a friend.
The 17-year-old from Athens, Texas, told her friend, Megan Gay, about the rodeo and convinced her to take the week-long trip to Shawnee too. Although they rode in separate vehicles, the pair did find campsites near one another and competed with back numbers one digit apart.
Surls, who will be a senior in high school at the beginning of the new academic year, scored 17.3 and 16.8 in her second runs this year but said “the first run wasn’t as good.”
She said she has been rodeoing “forever” and first competed at the IFYR two years ago.
“It was fun but last year I went to a state convention so this year, I decided to come back,” she said. “It’s been one of the best week-long rodeos.”
Surls said her father formerly competed in rodeo and her younger brother, who isn’t quite old enough for the IFYR, team ropes. But it was her mother who brought her to this year’s competition.
“We try to go as much as we can,” she said. “We meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends.”
Surls said she enjoys spending time with her friends when back home in Athens where she is a member and former officer of the local FFA.
She said she plans to attend Texas A&M University or Tarleton State University after completion of high school and attend veterinary school.
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Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
Barrel racer Shelby Surls returned to the 2010 International Finals Youth Rodeo after taking a break last year and this time, she brought along a friend.
The 17-year-old from Athens, Texas, told her friend, Megan Gay, about the rodeo and convinced her to take the week-long trip to Shawnee too. Although they rode in separate vehicles, the pair did find campsites near one another and competed with back numbers one digit apart.
Surls, who will be a senior in high school at the beginning of the new academic year, scored 17.3 and 16.8 in her second runs this year but said “the first run wasn’t as good.”
She said she has been rodeoing “forever” and first competed at the IFYR two years ago.
“It was fun but last year I went to a state convention so this year, I decided to come back,” she said. “It’s been one of the best week-long rodeos.”
Surls said her father formerly competed in rodeo and her younger brother, who isn’t quite old enough for the IFYR, team ropes. But it was her mother who brought her to this year’s competition.
“We try to go as much as we can,” she said. “We meet a lot of people and make a lot of friends.”
Surls said she enjoys spending time with her friends when back home in Athens where she is a member and former officer of the local FFA.
She said she plans to attend Texas A&M University or Tarleton State University after completion of high school and attend veterinary school.
———
Johnna Ray may be reached at 214-3934.
