Hometown cowgirl wins Central Fair all-around

Posted by Quentin Jodie | Aug 31, 2023 | Rodeo |

CHINLE – Hometown cowgirl Erin Jones didn’t let her nerves get the best of her.

She was calm and collective during the short round performance of the Central Agency Fair Rodeo on Sunday afternoon.

That sense of calmness helped her earned the all-around title as she finished with a total of 50 points to collect the $500 cash prize.

Jones took the average in the breakaway with a 7.4 aggregate while adding a third-place finish in the barrel racing by completing two runs in 34.420 seconds.

“It’s pretty cool to win my hometown rodeo,” said Jones, who added that this was her first all-around title at the big Chinle rodeo. “I really wanted to catch my calves, so I tried to stay calm and not get too antsy in the box.

“I mainly wanted to stay calm and not break the barrier,” she added. “I wanted to keep it clean.”

In the long go round, she placed third with a 3.48 run and in Sunday’s finals she added a second place run of 3.92 seconds, winning the title over Sheila Sells, who roped two draws in 7.82 seconds.

In the barrels, Jones earned a second-place check in the long go with a 17.243 effort before following that with a fifth-place finish in the short round with a much faster run of 17.177 seconds.

“My horse is new, and we’ve been seasoning her for a couple of years now,” Jones said of Hailey, a horse she bought from Kassidy Dennison.

“When we got her, she was green, so we had to break her in,” she said. “My dad (Aaron) started to ride her, and my sister (Arianna) is the one that trained her.

“I’m mainly the jockey, and it’s exciting to see her get things down,” Jones added. “She’s clocking in some good times.”

With a pair of first place runs, Shonto, Ariz., cowgirl J.C. Hawk swept the barrel racing field.

The 2022 Diné College graduate won the long go with a 17.217 run and she smoked the field in the short round with a blistering 16.818 run for a two-run aggregate of 34.035 seconds.

Karsyn Yazzie was a distant second at 34.410 followed by the all-around champ.

“He does his own thing and I just had to be there with him,” Hawk said of her horse Amigo.

“I knew he was going to get a good time,” she said.

Going into the fair, Hawk said she was aiming to make some clean runs.

“Usually, I’m overshooting that first barrel,” she said. “I knew my second and third barrel were going to be OK. I just had to fix my first turn.

“I knew it was kind of sloppy, but I still got there,” she added.

Hawk said she’s entered the upcoming Navajo Nation Fair and with her dominate win, that gives her some confidence.

“I just have to stay consistent, and hopefully I can make the finals,” she said.

The barrel racing champ also got entered in the breakaway event at the Central Fair, but she turned in a no time.

“My calf jumped out,” Hawk said. “I just didn’t have a good start, so it screwed me up.”