CSC student competes at 2023 Miss Rodeo America Pageant  

Cook was crowned Miss Rodeo Wyoming at the 2022 Wyoming State Fair and served as Miss Rodeo Wyoming in 2023.

She is student teaching at Big Horn’s elementary school and plans to graduate in May with a degree in Elementary Education. She hopes to find a teaching position in the Sheridan area after graduation and stay close to the family ranch.

At the Miss Rodeo America Pageant, contestants are judged in three main categories: personality, appearance, and horsemanship. Throughout the eight-day competition, contestants participated in horsemanship and personality interviews, speech, a Wrangler Fashion Show, and they were provided opportunities to answer questions on-stage.

Cook believes horsemanship is key to being a rodeo queen and it is one of her favorite parts of the competition.

Cook’s goal while competing at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant was to represent herself, her state, her family, her faith, and her support system to the best of her ability.

“I walked with Philippians 4:13: ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,’ every day of the pageant,” said Cook. “I wanted to share my faith with the judges as I competed.”

Cook is grateful for the opportunity she received to represent Wyoming and the skills she has gained from the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.

“This has given me so many opportunities to travel the country, attending rodeos representing the state of Wyoming,” Cook said. “This has built my skills in personal relations, public speaking, interviewing, and riding. I have had the opportunity to interview rodeo athletes, ride an abundance of horses, and make connections with different rodeo personnel.”

According to Cook, she has always had an interest in educating others and is optimistic about her teaching opportunities in the future.

“I love mentoring kids and inspiring them to be the best version of themselves,” Cook said. “I also have had an interest in serving on a mission trip where I can use my experience in teaching and degree in education to share the gospel and teach overseas.”

Cook was born into the rodeo world. She grew up involved in the Wyoming Junior Rodeo Association and competed in the annual Sheridan County Rodeo.

“My mom was a rodeo queen in the 90s and I grew up attending the Miss Rodeo Wyoming pageant because my mom was on the board for about 10 years,” Cook said. “Rodeo is something that I have always been pretty passionate about and as a little girl it was always a big goal of mine to win Miss Rodeo Wyoming.”

Cook has earned several titles: 2012 Sheridan Wyoming Rodeo Jr. Princess, 2018 Sheridan Wyoming Sr. Princess, and 2022 Miss Sheridan Wyoming Rodeo.

During Cook’s time as Miss Rodeo Wyoming, her platform was Don’t Sell Your Saddle, aimed at speaking about the hard work and dedication it takes to break in a saddle. She traveled to Wyoming schools and read Rusty and His Saddle by Wyoming author Mary Fitchner. She believes the book inspires students to chase their goals.

Cook credits a lot of her success in rodeo to growing up on her family’s cattle ranch.

“I grew up on my family’s cattle ranch, learning the values of a farmer and rancher,” Cook said. “I was raised to appreciate hard work, dedication, family, faith, honesty, and failure leading to success. My dad taught me everything I needed to know about being on the back of a horse; a lot of life lessons were learned on the back of a horse, in the sorting pens, or out in the hay field.”

Although Cook did not earn the title of Miss Rodeo America, she is proud of her accomplishments at the pageant.

“I didn't walk away with the title of Miss Rodeo America 2024, but I did walk away with a $1,500 educational scholarship and won the Traction Financial Scholarship which was $2,500,” Cook said. “I certainly never thought I would be able to compete on such a big stage and show my true self, so that was an accomplishment in itself.”