PRINEVILLE – They’ll be back in the saddle in July.

Three Dayville young men placed well at Oregon High School Rodeo Finals, held June 17-19 in Prineville.

Four-year state finalist Gus King is headed to the National High School Rodeo Association Finals, to be held July 18-24, in Gillette, Wyo.

King, a 2010 Dayville High School graduate, qualified for nationals, placing second in team roping with teammate Jesse Northrop of Fields.

While they didn’t make the top 10 in the first round, they were first in the second, and fourth in the final.

This will be King’s fourth trip to nationals, which is open to first- through fourth-place state finalists. He and Northrop placed second at state in team roping last year.

King’s second event was tie-down calf roping, in which he went into state in the No. 1 spot. However, he placed fifth and just missed qualifying for nationals. While doing well on the second and third rounds, King had a bad first round, said his coach and mother, Susan King.

“He had a great comeback after his first go. It was a combination of nerves and not being in the right frame of mind,” she said. He’d been at fire camp all week.

King moved up two spots from last year. In 2009, he placed No. 7 overall in the event.

Fifth- through 10th-place state finishers qualify for the Silver State Rodeo, which will be held July 5-9 in Fallon, Nev. While King qualified for this in tie-down calf roping, he is working for the Bureau of Land Management this summer and doesn’t plan to attend.

The Kimball boys – Jay and Jon – also of Dayville, are bound for Fallon.

Jay, another recent Dayville High graduate, placed fifth in steer wrestling, up from 10th last year. Jon, who returns to Dayville as a junior this fall, placed 10th in boys cutting.

Because each of the boys can go in a second event, they will each be teamed with another to compete in team roping.

In addition to rodeo competition, the state event was also a time for scholarship interviews, a rifle shoot, dance and awards banquet.

King, who plans to continue studies at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, won a total of $1,600 in scholarships, including several academic and athletic scholarships, and the Teskey’s Top Hand Scholarship.

Jay Kimball also earned various academic and athletic scholarships.

“Even if they don’t win their go-around, if they’re the top-placing senior at state, they have some amazing scholarship opportunities in Oregon High School Rodeo,” said Susan King. If students stay in school and maintain a 2.5 average, the academic scholarships are renewable. Most of the scholarships are funded by a donation of Nike co-founder Jon Bowerman, and disbursed through Oregon Community Foundation, she added.