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Show Wednesday, January 3, 2007 CI otuS im re Mm By Janine Shannon Express Writer Athletes make up an elite class of individuals who excel in physical competition. Many of them are born with natural talent, but talent alone does not make an athlete. Athletes train hard both physically and mentally men-tally to earn their title. The word athlete comes from the ancient Greek, where "athlos" means contest and "athletes" refers to the competitors. compet-itors. The Greeks held the first Olympic games in 776 B.C. in honor of their gods. Centuries later, the world still carries on the Olympic tradition, but Olympians are not the only athletes. Competitions of many kinds give rise to new athletes, some of which live right here in the Basin. Tony Mendes is a professional profes-sional bull rider. He was born and raised in Reno, Nev., but now lives in Jensen with his wife and two children. Mendes rode his first bull when he was just 13 years old, but the dream began when he was much younger. Bull riding runs in the Mendes family. His grandfather grandfa-ther was a world champion in the 1940s and his brother in 1997. His dad rode bulls a bit as well. Growing up around the sport is what made Mendes fall in love with it, and this love is what drove him to start practicing prac-ticing at an early age. When he was just three years old, Mendes started riding rid-ing sheep. He progressed to riding calves by the age of six and steers by the age of ten. He knew what he wanted and went after it, winning a few state championships in high school. Then, as a 17-year-old, Mendes was named the Professional. Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) Rookie of the Year. He dedicated his life to bull riding and wanted to be the best. "Everything revolved around riding bulls," he said. For the past twelve years of his professional career, Mendes has learned that in order to get better he has to push himself. He is now as comfortable as he can be on a bull, but that doesn't mean he can "sit on the couch" everyday. Mendes trains three or four days in the gym working with a personal trainer to not only strengthen his inner core, but also to keep his mind in the game. "The key is having the mind to control the balance," he said. Once at the professional level, bull riders generally do not practice on real bulls or even on practice bulls for fear 'IfSSt After success in high school, Chris Cottrell now plays football at Snow College. - -; - - 5 Horn f ornithine Expressions Basin Life of injury. Instead they ride in competition, sometimes at four events in one weekend. Mendes usually travels to 50 to 70 events a year. For the last seven years, he has made the World Championships Rodeo. In 1998 and 1999 he made the National Finals Rodeo and also in 1999, he made the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Finals. Chris Cottrell started playing play-ing football in fifth grade and now plays at the college level. He got a scholarship to Snow College, and for the past two seasons has played offensive line left guard. To get this far, Cottrell trained for hours every day, weight lifting, running, and practicing. Playing for Uintah High School, Cottrell received several sever-al awards, including All State player. Besides all the time spent practicing and lifting weights during the regular season, sea-son, he also worked hard during dur-ing the off-season to keep his body in shape. College football, however, requires even more dedication, as the games are more intense, the players bigger, big-ger, and the hits harder. "It's definitely something I've had to work hard at," he said. "Nothing in life comes easy." 1 . For Cottrell, academics has helped him play a smarter game. He said about 80 percent of the challenge is knowing the plays and the game itself.: Mental fitness is also what gets him through tough workouts and pushes him to be better. Suzzanne Huffman, formerly former-ly Fausett, made a name for herself as a professional barrel bar-rel racer. She grew up around horses, but did not begin barrel racing until college. Huffman , said she learned how-to barrel raeattejiard, " way. SKeltnew how to ride but not so much about training the horses. Huffman was not successful until she spent two weeks with Billy Perrin, whose daughter, Jackie Jo Perrin, was a world champion barrel racer. For those two weeks she rode everyday from 6 a.m. until dark. After that, she started winning. Huffman qualified for the Wilderness Circuit four times and the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) four times. In fact, she was the first woman in Utah to qualify for NFR. Barrel racing taught Huffman valuable skills, like responsibility, confidence, and determination. She was already in shape from riding horses her whole life, but barrel racing rac-ing requires working with your horse on a daily basis. So, Huffman rode her horse all the V it I 1 , h r n ;8f, " - - ' 3 I i i I'-' to fe m aftCollete? ii 5 J1" Professional bull rider Tony Mendes competes at the 2004 PBR World Finals. time. "To be successful at it, you have to be somewhat self-driven," she said. 1 Also vital to her success was family support. The strenuous schedule of back to back rodeos for four or five weeks at a time was only possible because her parents helped her. Now that T -1 yujlL'-.-.-- ii " " J Suzzanne Fausett, now Huffman, turns the barrels for a time of M.66 in the 11. m el f a 'JJ ''J ' ) I J I If .v -. i"W WfV"1 4 1 ('' A 7 rSr o R 1 a i Huffman's own girls, ages 11, 7, and 5, have started to learn the sport, Huffman is able to pass on what she learned in the 12 years she barrel raced. One of those lessons is how to deal with disappointment. "You can't win all the time," . she said. "You have to be a good winner and a good loser." 1 C o f 1 , J These three athletes are just a few who live in the Basin. Some are just starting to shine in high school sports. No 'matter 'mat-ter what age or what level, however, athletes do not just happen to win. Hard work and determination is what makes them excel in competition. ! first go round at the 1988 National Community Calendar : December 13, 2006 through March 2007 The Utah Field House of Natural History is proud to announce a temporary exhibit of Ernest Untermann Sr. portraits. por-traits. The display will begin the week of December 13 and continue through March. Regular admission fees apply. For more information please contact the museum at (435)789-3799, or stop by at 496 E. Main St., Vernal. 4 January through August The Utah Field House of Natural History is hosting the Range Creek Archaeological Exhibit from now through August Au-gust The exhibit showcases some of the artifacts from the Range Creek Archaeological site, located in the Book Cliffs of Carbon and Emery counties. coun-ties. Please call the museum for more information at 435-789-3799 or stop by 496 East Main, Vernal. January 3 UHS Boys Basketball -Varsity here against Carbon at 7 p.m. January 4 UHS Wrestling against Park City in Vernal at 7 p.m. . The Richest Man in Babylon Course will be held Jan. 4, 11, 18, and 25 at 7 p.m. at the Uintah County Library. If you are broke and need help, this course is designed to teach thrift, financial planning and how to gain personal wealth. Januarys Community dance at the Golden Age Center, 155 South 100 West from 8 to 10 p.m every Friday night Kay's Band provides the music. UHS Boys Basketball Varsity here against Judge Memorial 7 p.m. UHS Girls Basketball Varsity here against Judge Memorial 5:15 p.m. January 7 Break the Fast Potluck for Uintah Basin Singles Sin- Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007 at 5 p.m. at the Astdey Stake 2nd & 4th Ward Cultural Hall, 235 E. 600 S., Vernal Roast beef provided-.A: .: January 9 UHS Boys Basketball -Varsity here against Union 7 p.m. UHS Girls Basketball -Varsity here against Union 5:15 p.m. To place items of public interest inter-est in the Community Calendar, call 789-3511 or email them to editorvernal.com. i3 Finals Rodeo. |