Poway Rodeo has three new queens

By Emily Sorensen

There’s some new royalty in town, with the crowning of Poway’s 2013 rodeo queens Saturday night.

Eleven contestants from Poway and around San Diego county competed for three queen titles, Young Miss, Junior Queen, and Senior Queen at the pageant, held Saturday at Midland Elementary School. Serving as Poway’s new rodeo royalty are Senior Queen Rachel Owens-Sarno, Junior Queen Jessica Phillips and Young Miss Sarah Hans.

While usually an annual event, outgoing queens Brittney Phillips, Bridgette LaHaye and Halie Winder have been serving for two years.

The hopeful queens were judged in three different areas: horsemanship, the contestant interview and the pageant itself. The girls competing ranged in age from 23 all the way down to 10 years old.

The road to rodeo queen is two-three month process, and includes weekly meetings and regular horsemanship practices. “Rodeo knowledge is extremely important,” said Owens-Sarno.

Owens-Sarno, 20, who has previously held three other rodeo queen titles in Ramona, Lakeside and the Bull’s Only rodeo, has been competing for six years. Hailing from Lakeside, she is a student at Grossmont Community College and hopes to someday be a horse surgeon.

Phillips, 16, is a junior at Ramona High School. She is the younger sister of outgoing Senior Queen Brittney Phillips, and has been riding for most of her life. Phillips has also competed in junior barrel racing. Having her sister as the outgoing Senior Queen is a blessing to Phillips, who said that Brittney has been a big help to her. “I definitely can’t get away with anything,” Phillips said. “She helps a lot.”

Sarah Hans, 12, of Ramona, is a seventh-grader at St. Michael’s School in Poway.

As Poway’s new rodeo queens, Owens-Sarno, Phillips and Hans will act as “PR to the sport of rodeo and the community of Poway,” said Phillips. “We want to bring people to the rodeo.” Their duties will include news interviews, school visits, and carrying the sponsor flags at the Poway Rodeo.