story by Ruth Nicolaus
Shealynn Rasmussen had plenty to juggle on her high school graduation weekend.
Not only did she graduate from Burwell High School in May, but she competed at the Nebraska High School Rodeo (also in Burwell) and helped to host a high school trap shoot in Ord as well.
But the seventeen-year-old cowgirl is good at multi-tasking.
A resident of Burwell, she competes in the barrels, the goat tying and trap shooting.
Her primary horse is an eleven-year-old brown and white paint mare named Whiskey, who, when the family purchased her six years ago, knew nothing but the basic barrel pattern. Under Shealynn’s training, with a bit of help from her dad, the horse can now be used in the goat tying, barrels, poles, and even the roping.
Whiskey has some unusual traits: she loves dill pickles and tries to take off bottle caps. Several times, she has worked the cap with her tongue and teeth. “She’s a very curious horse,” Shealynn said.
Shealynn loved her time at Burwell High School. She was involved in speech, One Act, FFA (as treasurer her senior year), GLW Children’s Council (Garfield, Loup, Wheeler and Greeley Counties), Tech Club, and National Honor Society.
Of all her teachers, Mr. Simpson was her favorite. Her ag teacher and FFA advisor “has always been a very big inspiration to me,” she said. “He is very passionate about what he does. He’s always right there, to encourage students, and if he sees potential, he’ll do everything to try and help you.” Shealynn has benefitted from Mr. Simpson’s encouragement. Her freshman year, she felt she did not do well at an FFA leadership development event, and he pulled her aside to talk to her. “His words were, ‘it doesn’t matter how bad you did, you can always improve.’ His words inspired me to do the best I can.”
This past school year, her favorite class was physics, in part because they did fun stuff like build a trebuchet, which shot a baseball almost 150 yards. The class had three students in it, which also made it fun, “because we got lots of one-on-one time with the teacher.”
The best meal her dad makes is T-bone steaks, with hash browns or a baked potato on the side, topped with sour cream, butter, salt and pepper. Her favorite dessert is her great-grandma Leona’s banana bread, and her favorite holiday is Independence Day, because she can be outside with family, usually at a rodeo.
The most fun she’s had on a trip was to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis last fall. Thirteen Burwell High School students went, and they visited lots of fun and interesting places: the Caterpillar Factory, a John Deere Factory, the World’s Largest Popcorn Ball, the Indianapolis Speedway, the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, and Churchill Downs in Louisville.
This summer, she will work for the Zangger Popcorn Hybrids company in North Loup. She’ll be in the company’s lab and visiting plot sites across the state.
This fall, she will attend Ft. Hays (Kan.) State University working towards an ag education degree. She will do collegiate shooting sports; the Ft. Hays State shooting team is well known for its accomplishments on the national level. She’ll shoot not only regular trap but sporting clays, skeet, double skeet, double trap, and other shooting types.
And as for graduation weekend, it was a success. She and her family were able to get to all their activities. She competed on Saturday and Sunday morning (the rodeo committee accommodated graduating seniors on Sunday morning so they could attend their graduations in the afternoon.) And her graduation reception was held at the Garfield County Fairgrounds, where the rodeo arena is, so it was easy for her mom to set up and run over to the arena to watch her compete.
Shealynn has competed at the state finals each of the last three years in the shooting, and her sophomore year in the queen competition, finishing sixth. In 2022, she qualified for the National High School Finals in the shooting, entering Nationals in fifth place in the state and finishing at Nationals tied for first among the Nebraska contestants.
Shealynn has an older sister, KayLee.
She is the daughter of Scott and Carrie Rasmussen.
