In high school rodeo, coming in first place at a state final is a great accomplishment. Winning a state title and the prize new saddle as a result is even better.

But as Utah high school rodeo competitors know, even that can be topped by coming in as the top state at the national competition.

While you may think nothing could top that, the team that will represent the state as determined Saturday night at the Utah High School Rodeo Association (UHSRA) State Finals at the Wasatch County Rodeo Grounds believes otherwise.

The members of that team want to make history.

Ten area rodeo athletes will join the Utah representation as they go for an unprecedented third straight championship at nationals in Farmington, N.M., on July 20-26.

"(Going to nationals) means seeing dreams keep coming true," said junior McKay Mann of Lindon, who competes with the Lehi club and made the national team in the saddle bronc riding event. "Now it's time to keep filling more of them."

Mann said the pressure comes from competing against good riders, not from shooting for the three-peat.

The Lehi rider earned his spot with a fourth-place finish in the state finals, one of only four riders to stay on their bucking broncos for the full eight seconds. It turned out to be good enough for second place in the state overall.

"I wasn't as pleased with my performance as I hoped," Mann said. "The horse was a lot ranker than I thought. I just had to go with the flow and cover it."

It wasn't the prettiest ride he's had -- scored as a 58 -- but it got the job done. Sophomore Justin Anderson of Juab can relate, since he also managed to stay on his mount, a bull named Squirt, for the required time.

"I just tried to ride it jump for jump," Anderson said. "You just hold on tight."

The 72 points he totaled in the final was enough to get the young man from Juab the state title and the saddle, but not by very much.

"It was tight, so I was nervous, very nervous," he explained. "It feels good. I'm only a sophomore, so I'm happy with it."

At the other end of the spectrum was Wasatch rider Shelby Maxfield, who came into both of her events -- breakaway roping and barrel racing -- as the favorite.

"I wanted to be better than I did in the breakaway, but I did well in the barrels," she said.

Her times in both events were enough to give her a pair of state titles and a couple of new saddles. Now she's setting her sights on the biggest competition of all.

"It's really nice to be part of the team because I just missed going to nationals last year," Maxfield explained. "It's going to take a lot of practice and it will be really tough, but my goal is to go win."

Joining Mann from Lehi will be Makell Lavery (girls cutting), Kaylyn Trapp (pole bending) and Wace Holmes (bull riding), while South Utah County will be represented by Sadie and Jackson Ream (girls and boys cutting).

Other national competitors from the area include Wasatch's Makall Clyde (pole bending) and Juab's Ben McPherson (bull riding).

The team has just over a month to prepare for the national competition, which will take place in Farmington, N.M., on July 20-26.

• Jared Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@heraldextra.com.

Info box

Local competitors going to the National High School Rodeo Competition in Farmington, N.M.

Makell Lavery, Lehi (girls cutting)

Sadie Ream, South Utah County (girls cutting)

Jackson Ream, South Utah County (boys cutting)

Shelby Maxfield, Wasatch (breakaway roping, barrel racing)

McKay Mann, Lehi (saddle bronc riding)

Makall Clyde, Wasatch (pole bending)

Kaylyn Trapp, Lehi (pole bending)

Justin Anderson, Juab (bull riding)

Ben McPherson, Juab (bull riding)

Wace Holmes, Lehi (bull riding)