Two Crownpoint High riders qualify for National High School Finals Rodeo

Tryan Jodie and Amy Murphy earned their way to the National High School Finals Rodeo by finishing among the top four in New Mexico in their events, a strong showing that pushed Crownpoint High riders from local arenas to the sport’s national stage. Jodie, a steer wrestler, finished with 155 points in the statewide standings, while Murphy advanced in breakaway roping. Crownpoint High School does not have a rodeo team, which makes their path even more striking.

Their qualifications carry extra weight in eastern McKinley County, where rodeo is woven into family life, youth culture and Navajo tradition. Riders in Crownpoint and surrounding communities often build their seasons outside the school system, relying on parents, siblings and other community supporters to help with hauling, practice, entry fees and the long travel that comes with competition. For students like Jodie and Murphy, reaching nationals reflected more than individual talent. It showed the kind of long-term backing and persistence that keeps the local rodeo pipeline alive.

That pipeline now leads to Lincoln, Nebraska, where the 2026 National High School Finals Rodeo is scheduled for July 19-25 at the Sandhills Global Event Center. The National High School Rodeo Association says its high school division has about 12,500 members from 43 states, Australia, Canada, Mexico and New Zealand, and it sanctions more than 1,800 rodeos each year. The association says it was created to give high school students a chance to compete in a sport that operates on a scale comparable to collegiate and professional rodeo.

The route to Lincoln ran through the New Mexico High School Rodeo Association’s state finals cycle in Silver City, where the 2026 finals were scheduled for June 4-7. Jodie and Murphy secured their bids by placing in the top four statewide, a result that put Crownpoint back on the map in a sport where local names often carry across generations. Previous coverage has shown Crownpoint families such as the Jodies and Tsosies competing for state points and national qualification year after year.

For McKinley County, the two qualifiers are another reminder that strong rodeo talent continues to come out of the Navajo Nation communities around Crownpoint even when school-sponsored programs are limited. Jodie and Murphy now move from local dirt to one of the biggest stages in youth rodeo, carrying a hometown standard with them.