Rodeo queen greets hometown crowd

When Tonya Heinrich was named Miss Reno Rodeo, she thought it only fitting to ride her horse Queenie in the performances. But it wasn't because of her name.

"She's been my best friend since I was about 8 years old," Heinrich said, stroking the mare's neck while waiting for the evening's rodeo to begin at the Livestock Events Center. "I have several horses, but we've just bonded. We read each other really well and she loves the crowds and people as much as I do."

The crowd loves them back, applauding as Queenie gallops around the arena with Heinrich waving the traditional queen salute.

Growing up on a ranch in Washoe Valley, Heinrich has been around horses her entire life and started riding when she was 2.

"My dad was in professional rodeo so I got to go - or got dragged, however you look at it - to a lot of rodeos," she said. "But Reno was always one of my most favorites."

Her team-roper father, Rase, won the wild horse racing title at the Reno Rodeo in 1990 and again in 1994. The event is no longer a part of the rodeo.

In high school, Heinrich competed in barrel racing, pole bending, break away roping and goat tying and won the state championship in goat tying as a senior at Galena High School in 2001.

She was runner-up to the Nevada State High School Queen, but always had her eye on the Reno Rodeo crown.

"It's something I've dreamt of since I was a little girl," she said. "It's my hometown. I've been here my whole life. It's who I am."

After attending Lassen Community College for two years on a rodeo scholarship, Heinrich is back home studying marketing and speech communications at the University of Nevada, Reno.

She no longer competes in rodeos but still enters barrel-racing competitions with her mother, Cyndie.

Her parents and grandparents, Danny and Shirley O'Neill of Carson City, are among those in the stands each night supporting her.

And that, she said, is what rodeo is all about.

"It's tradition. It's family," she said. "I hope to continue it through my own family eventually."

Contact Teri Vance at tvance@nevadaappeal.com or at 881-1272.