GILLETTE, Wyo. – Several South Dakota athletes brought home hardware as the National High School Rodeo Finals wrapped up in Gillette on Saturday.
Piper Cordes from Wall captured the national barrel racing championship with a strong performance in all three rounds.
Cordes won both go-rounds and finished third in the short-go with a time of 17.06 seconds.
Overall, Cordes won the national title with time of 50.80 on three runs. She finished nearly a second ahead of the reserve champion.
Team South Dakota also had two reserve champions.
Kashton Ford from Sturgis finished as the reserve champion in the bareback riding, finishing third in the short-go with a score of 78 points.
Overall, Ford had 235 points on three head.
Meanwhile, Eastan West from New Underwood was the reserve champion in the saddle bronc.
He scored 72 points in the short-go and finished with 221 points on three head.
West finished just 1.5 points behind the champion Shane Scott from Prineville, Oregon who had 222.5 points.
Landry Haugen of Sturgis finished 9th in the goat tying with Brylee Grubb of Spearfish placing sixth.
In the team standings, South Dakota placed third in the overall, third in the boys and fourth in the girls. Here are the top three in the Team Standings:
Team Standings
1. Texas    10,460 points
2. Utah       7,600
3. South Dakota    5,780
Boys Team Standings
1. Texas     6,295 points
2. Utah       4,515
3. South Dakota    3,370
Girls Team Standings
1. Texas         4,165 points
2. Utah           3,085
3. Oklahoma   2,801
4. South Dakota     2,410
