story by Ruth Nicolaus
In between helping her dad around the family ranch north of St. Paul, Neb., Megan Turek will take time to rodeo this summer.
The eighteen year old cowgirl, a member of the Nebraska High School Rodeo Association, competes in the barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying.
She graduated from St. Paul High School this spring, where she was captain of the basketball team, and was a member of FCA, the Math and Science Club, National Honor Society, and 4-H. This fall, she will attend Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne, Wyo., where she will study ag business and rodeo.
But before then, there are rodeos to go to and ranch work that needs to be done. She helps her dad check and feed cows, fix fence, and work in the hayfield. When she’s off the ranch, she will compete at a few Mid-States Rodeo Association rodeos this summer, and help Kirby Eppert with her goat-tying clinics.
This summer, she and her friends will spend time at the North Loup River, where they will swim, fish and hang out.
They will also cruise the streets of St. Paul (population 2,300), where they don’t have to worry about stop lights, because there are none. She loves to eat at Runza, a fast-food restaurant chain where her favorite thing to order is the runza (beef, cooked cabbage and cheese in a bread pocket), and French fries. Grand Island is only thirty miles away, so they like to go to the mall or the movies. She loves comedies and any movie with Will Ferrell in it.
Megan has qualified for state finals all four years, making it to the National High School Finals Rodeo her sophomore year in the goat tying, her strongest event.
She has a younger brother, Grant, who will be a sophomore in high school this fall. She is the daughter of Jeff and Sheila Turek.
