Northern Navajo Fair: Dennison Boone, Cassidy Begay capture all-around crowns

SHIPROCK

The all-around titles at the 112th Annual Northern Navajo Fair Open Rodeo were decided on the final day of the three-day rodeo.

Tohatchi’s Dennison Boone and Crownpoint cowgirl Cassidy Begay had impressive showings on Sunday as they were crowned the men’s and women’s all-around champions at the annual Shiprock rodeo.

Boone, who was sidelined for almost a month due to a freak injury, earned three paychecks by winning the open team roping with heading partner Dwight Sells. He also earned two third-place finishes in the tie-down roping and in the open team roping.

“It went pretty well and I honestly didn’t plan on entering the calf roping,” said Boone, who amassed $4,936 in winnings, which included the $500 bonus for winning the men’s all-around.

“Calf roping has been a little bit of a struggle for me lately,” Boone said. “My good horse ended up getting hurt in Rocky Boy (Montana) and she’ll be out for another six months, so calf roping has been a struggle for me.”

Begay, meanwhile, placed first in the ladies breakaway roping. She also entered in the barrel racing, but she fell out of contention when she dropped the third barrel. Nevertheless, she was tabbed the women’s all-around winner by winning the most money in two events.

“I didn’t place in the barrels, but it helped me win the all-around,” Begay said. “It was a lot of fun, and I didn’t expect this. We entered barrels late, but I knew I wanted to breakaway.

“You know, my barrel horse has been out of shape, but he really put together a good run,” she added. “We knocked a barrel, but it still helped me win the all-around.”

In the breakaway roping, Begay beat out 51 other cowgirls by posting a winning time of 2.45 seconds. Shiprock’s Mia Wilson placed second with a time of 2.72 seconds while Keliegh Lee turned in a third place run of 2.82.

“Some of the big names were there, and it was a lot of fun because I haven’t been to the Shiprock rodeo in three, four years,” said Begay, who won $1,943 in the breakaway. “It was a lot of fun to win that fair against some tough competition. My horse worked well, and we pushed the barrier, and we got out just right.”

By virtue of winning the all-around, Begay was also awarded an additional $500 as she walked away with a grand total of $2,443.

“I’m just thankful for my dad for hauling me around,” Begay said of her dad, Eric. “We actually went to a jackpot on Saturday night, so we were running low on sleep. We got back late, and we had to leave for Shiprock early in the morning, so a big shout out to my dad for being my driver.”

Coupled with her breakaway win at the Eastern Navajo Fair in late July and her ladies team roping triumph at the Navajo Nation Fair last month, Begay was ecstatic about her achievements this past year.

“We won three fairs, so we accomplished some big things,” Begay said. “We’ve been on a roll this year.”

For Boone, he got on a roll during Sunday’s slack performance. In the team roping, he collected $3,600 in prize money.

He earned $2,175 for winning first with Sells as they turned in a sizzling 4.96 run. Boone added another solid run of 5.34 seconds with heading partner Trey Begay as that effort paid them $1,425.

“I’ve really gotten back into team roping,” said Boone, who severed part of his index finger during a roping event in Holbrook in early June. “Me and Trey have gotten our groove going again. I started roping with Dwight Sells, and so I had pretty good confidence going to Shiprock.”

Boone said his strategy for the team roping was to react to his partners and be ready for his shot.

“The way Dwight ropes, he ropes just as fast as the way Trey ropes,” Boone said. “Really, I had to react on how everything goes. As fast as they rope, I had to be in position and ready for anything that happens.”

As for his tie-down roping, the Tohatchi cowboy said he was surprised that he placed third with an 11.43 run behind event winner Ryan Cody Nez (9.46) and runner-up Michael Williams (10.55).

“When I got into the box, I had a hard time setting up my horse,” Boone said. “That’s the way she is but when I came out of the box my throw was right there quick and the calf did not run hard.”

Still with very little practice, Boone wasn’t sure how he would proceed in his tie-down event.

“I caught it real quick and everything after that was slow, like my dismount, my flanking and my tying,” he said. “Everything was just slow and honestly, I didn’t think that I would place third. I thought I would be down there a little bit.”

Other timed event winners include Michael Bates (steer wrestling), Naci Charley (barrel racing), Tommy Nez Jr. (senior breakaway) and Truman Begay and Chuck Sells (No. 10 team roping).

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