One of the Thurston County’s finest youth rodeo competitors is set to represent the area in Las Vegas on a mighty stage in December.
Brooklynn Bell, 14, of Rainier, qualified to compete in the Mike and Sherrylynn Johnson Vegas Tuffest Jr. World Championship from Dec. 4 through Dec. 10 at The Expo at World Market Center, held the first weekend of the National Finals Rodeo. She earned her spot in the 15-and-under girls breakaway roping event after placing first in the qualifying event in April in Las Vegas.
Bell, the reigning Northwest Junior Rodeo Association queen, is a homeschooled student who trains in Tenino at Stickhorse Arena and in Yelm at Stewart’s Arena. She has been competing on the rodeo stage since she was 10 years old, but Sin City for the Tuffest Jr. World Championship will be the biggest stage she has faced yet as she will rope against about 100 other girls in her age category…