Glocknitzer to make 3rd trip to rodeo nationals

After criss-crossing the lonely highways of Nevada for the last four years on the high school rodeo circuit, recent Douglas High grad Jonathon Glocknitzer will be making one final trip to close out his career.

Glocknitzer qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo with his third place finish in the Nevada season standings for cutting.

It will mark his third consecutive year going to nationals, which are in Farmington, N.M., July 20-26.

With that he'll leave the competitive path behind, at least for the time being, to pursue a degree in elementary education in California.

"Heading into the year, I was just thinking of this like every other season, but as I got close to the end it really started to hit me that this was the last time I'd be competing at a lot of these places," Glocknitzer said. "I'll miss it, definitely, but I'm not going to miss the long trips so much."

Glocknitzer peaked during his senior season, coming into the state finals two weeks ago with a legitimate shot at the grand championship and riding steadily around the No. 12 spot in the all-around standings despite only competing in one event.

"That's pretty rare, for a cowboy who only competes in one event to be anywhere near the top 10 in the all-around standings," Glocknitzer's mom, Cyndie, said.

This could be his payoff year at nationals as he took 43rd last year and will be coming in with two years of experience at the event.

"The competition is way different from what you see here," Glocknitzer said.

"Everyone there is one of the best in their state, so it's a tough field.

"My first year, I was really, really nervous. Last year was a little better, so I'm hoping to settle in well this year."

Glocknitzer competed on Doc, his 23-year-old horse, this year just as he has in his previous seasons.

"You get to know your horse pretty well," he said. "You spend so much time taking care of them and working with them that you know how they'll react to certain things," he said.

In Doc's case?

"He's pretty picky about the surface you're competing on, it can't be too hard or too soft," he said. "But at nationals, that's not as big of a deal. You do want to make sure you get out and get a feel for the surface though, because it has an effect on how you will do."

Glocknitzer said he works out several times a week with Minden resident Paul Barnes and spends a good amount of time just working on fundamental maneuvers with Doc.

He'll be looking to raise some extra money to help the family get down to New Mexico this year.

The family bought a new truck last year to haul their horses to the various rodeos (Glocknitzer's sister, Becka, finished 11th overall in cutting this year and will be competing at the Silver State Invitational in Fallon this week), and have already put more than 23,000 miles on it.

With diesel prices hovering around $5 to the gallon and with several tons of trailer tacked onto every trip, the bills quickly add up.

"We've driven hundreds of thousands of miles in the last four years," Glocknitzer said. "I've gotten to know the rest of the state pretty well."

Even with the many hours on the roads, Glocknitzer still carried a 3.3 GPA with a full load of honors and AP courses.

"It's tough traveling and doing school work, but I usually did better grades-wise when I'm the most busy, so it worked out," he said.

After growing up with a slate of daily chores around the ranch, though, Glocknitzer said he wouldn't be missing the cowboy life too much.

"I'm done with ranch life for now," he said with a laugh. "I want to teach."

Even so, Doc will be following him to college.

"i'm going to try to get out to ride him a couple times a week while I'm down there," Glocknitzer said.

Anyone interested in donating funds to help get Glocknitzer to nationals can contact Cyndie Glocknitzer at 265-7785 or mail to P.O. Box 2562, Gardnerville, NV, 89410.