Han, Gurnett crowed rodeo royalty in Great Falls Play Video
Posted: Jan 17, 2010 5:51 PM
Updated: Jan 18, 2010 10:50 AM
Miss Rodeo Montana 2010 was crowned in Great Falls on Sunday, as Jourdon Han accepted her coronation after years of determination and effort.
Han, who hails from the Hi-Line community of Rudyard, said, "When I was 12 I ran in my first pageant, but ever since I've been a little girl going to the rodeo I just admired the sparkling shirts. So i can say since I was 12 I've been working towards this goal."
And she's going to keep on working - just ask last year's queen, Leslie Furniss.
Furniss said, "I put about 60,000 miles on my truck this year and I've been to over 30 rodeos, quite a few different states, I went to Calgary, so I went to a different country, and then what you do on a day to day basis, it's a lot of studying for national competition so it's almost a 24-hour a day job - but it's worth it."
But Jourdon's ready, and said, "I just really want to promote the sport and promote Miss Rodeo Montana and try to get more contestants to be involved in the program."
And she'll be doing that with today's other winner, Miss Teen Rodeo Montana, Libby Gurnett of Helena.
Gurnett said, "I'm so excited. I'm blessed to have all the people in my life who helped me to get to this point and I'm ready for a good year."
Gurnett has been working on this for the last three years, and all her hard work has paid off.
She continued, "Ever since I was a little girl, you know you see the rodeo queens and think 'oh my gosh, sparkles!', and ever since then I've just wanted to become that and so I set my goals high and I'm starting to reach them, so it's a good feeling."
Together, Han and Gurnett will travel across Montana and try to promote attendance at rodeos as well as recruiting more girls to compete in the pageant. But right now they're savoring the moment.
