FARMINGTON, N.M. – The fourth time was the charm for Amanda King.

King and her family took the two-day trip to Farmington for the National High School Rodeo Association Finals last week. She competed in pole bending, cutting, goat tying and barrels during the course of the week-long rodeo.

King’s efforts earned her second place in the nation in pole bending and 20th in goat tying. Each event had around 100 participants. Those two strong showings put her in fifth place in the all-around.

King has qualified for the national rodeo for four straight years, but hadn’t surpassed her rookie success until this year. She finished ninth in the barrel racing last year and didn’t make the short go in 2006. She took eighth in pole bending and 11th in barrels, and her horse was selected as horse of the year during her first national rodeo in 2005.

“It feels good to get fifth overall, but I wish I had finished higher than that,” King said. “I’m just happy I made the short go and did well my last year at the high school rodeo. I was very close to being first. A snap of your fingers was the difference. There were a lot of girls.”

The rodeo drew more than 1,500 athletes for the various events. The cowboys and girls came from across the country and beyond. There were four teams from Canada alone.

In addition to the rodeo events the NHSRA held basketball and volleyball tournaments to give the kids a break from the competition. King, a High Desert League basketball all-star, played in the basketball tournament.

“It’s a huge rodeo,” King said. “You meet people from Canada and Australia. That’s something you’d never expect at any other rodeo. It’s just an accomplishment to make it there. It was a lot of fun.”

King graduated from Dayville High School in June, but the nationals marked the real transition for her. She now has two weeks until she leaves for Feather River College in Quincy, Calif. She will compete in break-away roping, goat tying and barrel racing for the Feather River rodeo team.

King earned a rodeo scholarship from the school. She has also earned more than $5,000 in scholarships from high school rodeo competitions since her freshman year. King picked up $2,000 last week alone. She has received scholarships based on rodeo results as well as academic and merit based programs through the Oregon and National high school rodeo associations.

“I don’t think it will be a difficult change,” King said. “The biggest difference will be traveling and competing on my own and not having my family with me.”