KALISPELL — The High School Rodeo Finals cap off Montana's season with a week full of events and celebrations.
One of those celebrations is the sendoff that the Montana High School Rodeo Association gives the senior athletes.
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Before the performance, the athletes received thousands of dollars in scholarship money from multiple sponsors of the MHSRA to help them in the next chapters of their careers.
One senior from Huntley, AJ Swenson, said it was an honor to receive a scholarship from the association.
“For these kids to be able to go on and have that support from their home state or wherever they wanna go to college, for me, that was really special,” Swenson said. “I know that I'll have the support back home. I'm going to college in Cisco, Texas, and so to get that support back home from just a great organization meant a lot to me.”
Support comes in many ways, but these athletes' biggest supporters come from their family members back home who have been there through every step of the journey.
Kenzie Kallenberger from Big Sandy said she would not be successful in rodeo without her family by her side.
“My parents got me started in the rodeo and because they rodeo, too, so then it just kind of was always in my life,” Kallenberger said. “So I've just learned to love every ounce of it — to the horses, to the waking up early, to driving to rodeos, to being at the rodeos, it's just so amazing. And then just having this ending with them here and then going into the collegiate level will just be super cool.”
While being honored at the rodeo was exciting for the athletes, for some, it was also bittersweet knowing this would be one of the last times these riders will compete in the same place.
“There's not more of a family than what we do every weekend,” Swenson said. “We're together every weekend and sometimes during the week for eight months out of the year. I'm a little sad. It flew by way faster than I thought, but there's always that next step. You know, we go through a lot of things in life, so I got the next thing to look forward to.”
The High School Rodeo Finals will hold the championship round Saturday at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell.
