Amador County – The 2011 California High School Rodeo Association Queen Loren Bebensee visited Amador County and TSPN TV studios Monday to help promote the 2011 Challenge of Champions Rodeo coming in two weeks in Plymouth.

Bebensee said the championship caliber high school rodeo precedes by three months the CHSRA state finals, but is also “a little more prestigious.” The state finals accept the top five riders from each category, from all 9 divisions in California, while the 39-year-old Challenge of Champions invites only the top three in each category.

“It’s for the bragging rights,” said Bebensee, who is 17 and became queen last June in Bishop, then went on to eighth place at the rodeo queen nationals in Gillette, Wyoming.

Bebensee will not compete at the Challenge of Champions, which is to be held March 25-27 at the Amador County Fair Grounds in Plymouth. Bebensee has been a rodeo competitor for four years, riding barrels on her grey horse, Roscoe, and roping and tying goats on her brown horse, Little Doc. Riding rodeos out of Redding and District 1, she has made a lot of friends who have qualified to Challenge of Champions.

The Challenge will bring about 300 boys and girls, the top three in each category from the 9 high school rodeo divisions. The cutting competition starts at 7 a.m. Friday, March 25. At 6 p.m. the rodeo performance starts. The special rodeo is 11 a.m. Saturday, with the rodeo performance at 1 p.m, and open team roping at 6 p.m. Saturday starts with a 10 a.m. Cowboy Church, and at noon starts the Challenge of Champions finals, followed by award presentations.

Jackson Rancheria Casino and Hotel is major sponsor of the Challenge for the 14th straight year, since the rodeo moved to Plymouth. It was held for the 25 years before that at the Cow Palace in San Francisco.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.