story by Ruth Nicolaus
The seventeen year old cowgirl, a resident of Sayre, Okla., didn’t grow up wanting to be a rodeo queen. The daughter of a rancher, she told people, “I’m not wearing boots that match my shirt.” But two things changed her mind. First, she met a rodeo queen who got her excited for it.
Secondly, she was tired of her younger brother Dalen always one-upping her. “He and I are close,” she said, “and everything I did, he would go out and get one second faster than me, or go one step farther than me. I finally looked at my mom and said, ‘Dalen cannot run for rodeo queen.’”
This is the second time Cadlyn (rhymes with Katelyn except for the “d”) has reigned as Oklahoma high school queen. She competed her freshman year and won. This past July, at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, she finished fifth in the nation.
Cadlyn is a junior at Merritt High School in Elk City, where she loves the small school atmosphere. “I know all the teachers, and they know me, and they work hard to make sure we have good academics,” she said. Her favorite class is Spanish, which also has her favorite teacher, Mrs. Richardson. “She is one of those teachers who is easy to connect with, and you feel right at home when you enter her classroom.” Her least favorite class this year is geometry, because she doesn’t believe shapes should be involved in math. “Shapes do not go well with me,” she joked. “I need a tutor so bad.”
Cadlyn is the vice-president of her high school FFA chapter, a member of the livestock judging team, and has been accepted into the Merritt Tech team, a group of students who troubleshoot technology problems for their teachers. She is also on the Oilers of Tomorrow team, a leadership group that does community service projects. She is on the Superintendent’s Honor Roll and is a member of the National Honor Society.
One thing she thinks the public doesn’t know about rodeo queens is the knowledge bank they need to have. “I did not respect queens the way I do now,” she said. “We have to know so much. People come to us with questions because we’re very visible in the crowd.”
After her schooling, Cadlyn would like to combine her love of agriculture with public speaking and find a career in the ag communications field.
The Smith household has four dogs, all mutts: Rhinestone and Molly (which are Cadlyn’s) and Rascal and Stripe (which are Dalen’s). They also have a mini-donkey named Leroy and five horses.
In addition to serving as the high school rodeo queen, Cadlyn is a barrel racing contestant and the daughter of Will and Darcey Smith.
