story by Lindsay Humphrey
Making possibly the longest commute by several hundred miles to every OHSRA event is Maci Harvey. Her official address is in Mead, Oklahoma, but her family is making the move from Oakdale, California, this fall. “When we came out to Guthrie for nationals, my parents (Lance and Deborah) had just decided they wanted to move. Two weeks later they came back out here and found a house,” said the 17-year-old. “Both of my parents own businesses, and everything is just really expensive to run in California.” Those restrictions extended to high school rodeo last spring. Rodeo is a little different on the West coast in the first place since they are split up into districts, but picking their national team was something else altogether.
“We didn’t get to have state finals, so California took all the district winners and put those names into a hat. It was basically the luck of the draw for who went to nationals this year.” Maci was one of those lucky names in the breakaway roping. Her time in Guthrie wasn’t exactly what Maci had worked for, but she learned a lot and it ultimately brought her back to the Okie state. “I drew two of the best calves in the pen; we scored great, but I just didn’t throw very good loops.” Maci let nerves get the best of her. “I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because I was trying to win a national title instead of just doing my best.”
Fifteen-year-old Syd, Maci’s brother, is also competing in the OHSRA for the first time. All of Maci’s older siblings–Clay, 32, Jake, 30, and Randy, 27–competed in rodeo in the same district in California as their younger brother and sister. As a fourth generation ranching family, roping comes pretty naturally. Perhaps that’s why breakaway roping is Maci’s favorite event. She also runs barrels, poles and is an accomplished header. “I didn’t start breakaway roping until I was in eighth grade, which is later than most of my friends. I just don’t get tired of it; I could practice every single day and it never gets old for me.”
Luckily, Maci’s younger brother is great chute help when the rest of the family is busy. “My little brother and I get things done together quite a bit when everyone else is busy.” Sometimes other members of the Harvey clan come out for practice too. Maci’s grandparents are also part of her support system; they attended as many rodeos as they could when those were still in the same state. When it’s time to rodeo, Maci’s mom keeps the video camera rolling and supplies food at regular intervals since the days are packed full inside the arena. “My dad never misses a rodeo run and he always knows a lot about the score and the animal I’m about to rope. He also helps make all of my roping horses.”
As Maci travels several hundred miles for each OHSRA event, she’s getting to know more of the country as she prepares to choose a college. “Traveling across all these states helps me get to know the people and places so I can find a good fit for college.” Working relentlessly in rodeo and school, Maci will begin working on college classes next fall as part of her senior year. As a sophomore she began attending Oakdale Charter School, a form of homeschooling essentially. “As a freshman I was rodeoing so much that I missed a lot of school. This charter school has been super supportive when I’m gone. Everything is online so that makes it easier also.” Despite the long hauls to Oklahoma, Maci is enjoying her new association. “I really like that the whole state competes together. I also like how nice and convenient all of the facilities have been so far. It’s also neat that rodeo is important to the whole state here and there is a lot of support for it.”
