Two local teens are bringing San Benito County to a national stage on Wednesday, June 22, when they compete in the 2016 National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Lebanon, Tennessee. Jake Bourdet and Lilla Bell, who have known each other all their lives, have been competing together in rodeo roping events for the past three years.
At the tender age of 14, the two young riders have already beaten out thousands of other contestants to place in the California Junior High State Rodeo Finals, which took place in Plymouth, Calif. in early May. Each state sends the top four competitors from each event to the national finals. In the state competition, Bell qualified in breakaway roping, pole bending, and team roping with Bourdet, who also qualified in saddle bronc steer riding and light rifle.
Each of the teens were scheduled to compete in a number of individual events Tuesday and Wednesday, in addition to their team roping competition on Wednesday evening. BenitoLink spoke to Nikki Bell, Lilla’s mother, as the family was driving from Nashville to Lebanon, Tennessee.
“Lilla competed today in the first go of pole bending, so the first bracket is over now,” said Nikki of her daughter’s individual competitions. “There’s over a thousand kids there, and they compete over six days. There’s two go’s before the top competitors make a third go for the finals, which happens on Saturday. So far, Lilla has placed 18th in the bracket today, so we’ll see what happens after today!”
“The kids are really excited to be here,” Nikki added. “We are very excited and proud of them, too. They’ve gotten to meet a lot of other kids their age here. It’s a national competition, but there are actually kids here from as far away as Australia and Canada. Jake has been a family friend of Lilla’s basically since they were born, so it’s been exciting for them to plan for this. Roping and rodeo has been in both our families for years and years, so they both come from a long line of this tradition. We’ve probably been practicing a couple hours every day!”
Bourdet will compete Wednesday morning in light rifle, before he and Lilla compete as a duo again in team roping. Both Jake and Lilla recently graduated middle school–Jake from Spring Grove Elementary, and Lilla from Southside School. Both are set to attend San Benito High School in the fall.
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