Ali Vaughn got her fill of lemonade at the National High School Finals Rodeo this year.
In fact, the drinks at Roy’s Fresh Lemonade concession stand are one of the highlights of her trip in July to Nationals. She and her older sister Shayda were sure to stop by the stand and get one or two cups each day.
The Nebraska High School Rodeo Association cowgirl was introduced to Roy’s lemonade in seventh grade at the National Junior High Finals in Huron, and has loved it ever since.
The seventeen-year-old, a resident of Hershey, Neb., competes in the breakaway roping and team roping, and occasionally ventures into the pole bending and cutting.
For the breakaway, she rides a sixteen-year-old sorrel gelding named Rattler, who was the first horse she breakawayed on, “so he means a lot to me,” she said. He likes to throw fits in the box now and then, but because he does his job well, she ignores the fits.
In the team roping, she rides Blue, a 22-year-old blue roan who is consistent. “If you’re struggling, you get on the trusty old steed, and he’ll help you out.” Last year she heeled for Whitney Jennings.
And when she does the poles, she rides the neighbor’s horse named Jack. The neighbors don’t have a place for horses yet, so Jack stays at the Vaughns, which is perfect for when he is needed for high school rodeo.
Of the three horses, Rattler is mischievous, Blue is laid back and goes at his own pace, and Jack doesn’t like his ears to be touched.
A senior at Hershey Public School, Ali loves math classes. This year, she’s taking calculus, after having taken trigonometry last year. It comes easy to her. “I’ve always excelled at it,” she said, “and our math teacher is really good. She makes it enjoyable for me. She makes it fun for everybody.”
Her least favorite subject is English: the grammar, writing and reading. “I just think there are so many stupid rules to it,” she said. “I can speak English, but writing it and putting it in the correct form bothers me.”
She is president of her school’s FFA chapter and a member of FBLA, National Honor Society, and Student Council. She plays basketball, and has since first grade..
Teamwork and trust are the two biggest similarities between Ali’s two favorite sports, basketball and rodeo. “You have to trust your teammates on the court, and you have to trust your horse in rodeo. You trust them to do their job.”
The best meal her dad makes is grilled steaks; the best meal her mom makes is chicken alfredo. She loves homemade cherry cheesecake and lemonade, any kind, but especially Roy’s.
The family vacations are usually to Nationals, and the one that sticks out in her mind was in seventh grade, in 2019 to Huron, S.D. It was the first time they had gone to Nationals, and the entire family had fun. Her dad used to rodeo, and he shared stories about his rodeo days. “It was cool to hear his stories and cool to experience it all together.”
This summer, she worked two jobs. Her main job was running a rake in the hayfield in front of the big baler. Her second job was at a North Platte coffee shop, where her favorite drink is the lemon cherry bomb. She preferred the hayfield, but she liked interacting with customers at the coffee shop.
Ali helped around the family ranch and helped with the Sutherland rodeo, too. Her dad is president of the rodeo committee, so she gets in on all the volunteer work.
After high school, she hopes to work towards a degree in education. She enjoys working with older kids. Last year, she was a teacher’s aide in a kindergarten classroom. She liked it, but 45 minutes with kindergarteners was plenty. She hopes to teach kids who are a bit older than kindergarten.
Ali has competed at state finals the past three years, finishing her freshman year sixth in the breakaway, and completing her junior year as state breakaway champ.
At Nationals in July, she finished 26th in the world standings, with a 2.91 second run in the first round and a 3.22 run in the second round, only .13 seconds out of making the short round.
This fall, she will head for Parker Nokes at the high school rodeos.
Ali has an older sister, Shayda, who is a student at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She is the daughter of Tim and Celie Vaughn.

by Ruth Nicolaus

photo by Acentric