North Carolina Senior wins AQHA Girls Horse of the Year for 2011

Hannah Beamer

Summer 2011 was a memorable one for the North Carolina High School Rodeo Association.  It was full of successes and sadness.  One Senior, Hannah Beamer, finally achieved the coveted award she had worked for all four years in the NCHSRA…Girls AQHA Horse of the Year.  She accomplished this by placing 3^rd overall in the Pole Bending, earning 700 points on Lindee’s Missy Cash (AKA Dixie).  Hannah says she is so proud to have finally won this award on the National Level.  “I won it on the state level all 4 years I was in High School on this same horse.”  Along with this title, Hannah won a $1000 scholarship, and a Tod Slone saddle.  Altogether, Hannah brought home over $2000 in scholarship money this year.   Hannah was the 2011 NC All Around Cowgirl winning the Championship in Barrel Racing and Pole Bending for the 4^th year in a row.  She qualified for Nationals in Team Roping and Breakaway.

Dillon Wooten was the NC All Around Cowboy for 2011 and qualified for Nationals in Team Roping and Tie down Roping.  He was one of the recipients of the 2011 Academic Achievement award at the senior scholarship awards, earning a $1000 scholarship.  Dillon Wooten, Ethan Martin, Aubree Davis, Bailey Hewitt and Hannah Beamer were senior winners of $500 scholarships in Gillette.

North Carolina experienced some setbacks this summer also.  Another senior, Kelly Blanton, was bucked from her horse in the practice pen at the IFYR in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  She suffered neck injuries which has kept her hospitalized with paralysis.  We are excited to hear that at the time of this article, Kelly is in Rehabilitation at the Sheppard Center in Atlanta, GA making some good progress.  She is getting around in a specialty wheelchair and has begun to move her fingers.  We will continue to keep Kelly and her family in our prayers.