National High School Finals Rodeo

Ganado High senior finds true comfort in roping

CHURCK ROCK, N.M.

There is something special about familiarity.

For Taniah Nez, she found true comfort in roping as she committed her time and energy to better her craft.

And with that she had aspirations of making the National High School Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs, Wyo., this year but her dream of making the finals had to take a backseat.

Earlier this year her brother Brenton Joseph Sam Nez got ill and for the last two months of his life he was hospitalized in Albuquerque before he passed away on March 10, two weeks shy of his 24th birthday.

“It was pretty hard on me and I was ready to quit rodeo,” Nez said, “but my brother really liked to see me rodeo and he told me to never stop.”

The recent Ganado High graduate said she hit most of the Arizona high school rodeos during the fall season last year but with her brother being ill she stopped competing.

“I didn’t go to any high school rodeos this spring and that put me back in the standings,” she said. “But I’m OK with that because I treasured all the moments I spent with him in those last two months.”

And although she didn’t qualified for nationals, Nez got a chance to experience something similar to that during the Best of the Best High School Timed Event Rodeo last week at Red Rock Park.

At the high stakes event, Nez competed against 45 contestants that featured some of the top breakaway ropers from Louisiana, Texas, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.

“There were some good competition and I really enjoyed it,” she said.

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