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Iverson Advances To High School Rodeo National Finals
Oak-Rodeo
Oakdale’s Shae Serpa competes during the 2009 California High School Rodeo Finals recently. Serpa finished with two top-10 finishes. - photo by PHOTO COURTESY OF KAREN SERPA
Oakdale’s David Iverson took full advantage of his trip to the California High School Rodeo Finals, winning a spot to the National Finals rodeo with a top-three finish in the team roping competition.
Iverson joined five teammates in the rodeo for the state’s best cowboys and cowgirls and surely left an Oakdale impression with his second place finish in the team-roping event. Iverson teamed up with partner Walter Hoyt, earning a trip to the national stage in Farmington, NM.
Farmington will host the top four competitors from each state, making Iverson’s feat even more impressive.
“I was really expecting to go (to Nationals),” Iverson said. “Because I worked really hard at it and out of all my events, that was the event that I expected the most out of.”
Iverson and Hoyt will team up and crash the national scene, poised on making a strong showing in the nation’s premiere high school rodeo event.
“We’re just going to go for it and see what happens,” Iverson said. “There are a lot of good guys in the entire country so we know it will be different than California.
“It’s nationals, you have to give it all you’ve got.”
Oakdale’s Shae Serpa made a solid showing as well amongst the strongest competitors from the nine separate districts from California, earning an eighth and ninth place finish in Barrels and Pole Bending, respectively. Teammate Chelsea Hannik finished 10th overall in the Breakaway, while Jake Harvey closed out competition eighth in Steer Wrestling.
Iverson will take to the rodeo arena July 19 in Farmington with hopes of bringing a national title back to Oakdale.