Annual rodeo events continue through the weekend at Bolado
Park
The San Benito rodeo season started June 6 for Alyssa
Abercrombie, a third-generation San Benito resident, who competed
in the Miss San Benito Rodeo competition.
Annual rodeo events continue through the weekend at Bolado Park
The San Benito rodeo season started June 6 for Alyssa Abercrombie, a third-generation San Benito resident, who competed in the Miss San Benito Rodeo competition.
“I’ve always wanted to be Miss San Benito Rodeo,” Abercrombie said. “Ever since I was a little girl, I liked watching the other queens. I thought it was a good opportunity. I thought it was impossible to get it, but I got it.”
Abercrombie was selected from a field of three girls, including Danielle Escover and Brittany Gilroy.
“The hardest part was probably the speaking part because I didn’t know how well the other girls did,” Abercrombie said. “During horsemanship, I watched them perform.”
Jamie Fowles, the 2000 Miss San Benito Rodeo, and an organizer of the contest, said it was the interview part of the competition that gave Abercrombie the edge.
“She had really good communication skills,” Fowles said. “She was calm and she really showed she was just happy to be there. It really came out when she was answering her questions. She was really able to show her personality.”
Fowles stressed the practice in communication skills that the winners of the Miss San Benito Rodeo get each year.
“I’ve always said the girl who wins gets to practice communication,” she said. “They get to practice with more interview skills and when they go on to do interviews for college or jobs, they will be so much more comfortable.”
Abercrombie, who lives on a ranch in Paicines and will be a senior at San Benito High School next year, said she has been involved in the local rodeo since she was 3 or 4.
“My favorite part is going out and seeing all the community come together,” she said. “And it’s a really big family event.”
Abercrombie competes in the open team roping, family team roping, the cattle sorting and the cowhide race. Her favorite event to compete in is the family team roping because “me and my family and friends go and rope all the time.”
When it comes to watching events, Abercrombie said her favorite event is the figure 8 competition.
“Figure 8 is unique. We are the only county that holds that event,” she said. “My dad’s been in it ever since I can remember.”
While Abercrombie will be competing again this year, she said she expects the next few days to be different than past years since she holds the title of Miss San Benito Rodeo.
“There will be a lot more work involved,” she said. “I’m not just going out and doing my events. I’ll be watching all the other events, making sure to get around and talk to everybody. It will be a lot of fun.”
