Megan Hardy
Megan
Hardy, the 22 year old daughter of Mark and Rita
Hardy of Wolf Point, was named Miss Rodeo Montana
2007 in front of a crowd of 100 at the Great Falls
Hampton Inn Sunday morning. Along with
the title, Hardy swept all of the category awards,
including the Style Show Award, Photogenic Award,
Speech Award, Horsemanship, Personality, Appearance,
and Projection & Presentation. Tara Camden of
Kalispell was named 1st Runner Up and
Emily Bowers of Livingston was 2nd Runner
Up.
Contestants competed for four
days in a rigorous competition involving horseback
riding; giving a 3-minute speech on the State of
Montana, modeling in a Style Show, answering
impromptu questions, and being interviewed privately
by the judges. Judges for the contest were
Mike Lorash of Fishtail, MT; Jeanine Shepard of
Manhattan, MT; and Suzanne Brownell of Wyarno,
Wyoming.
Hardy succeeds Cassidy Han, 22,
from Inverness, a 2006 graduate of Carroll College
with a degree in History.
Miss Rodeo Montana is a goodwill
ambassador for Montana and the sport of Professional
Rodeo in Montana. She will travel throughout the
State and to other states and Canada to promote
Montana’s Rodeos. In addition to appearing in rodeos
and fairs, she will speak to schools and
organizational groups and appear at community events
throughout Montana, and in December she will travel
to Las Vegas, Nevada, to compete for the title of
Miss Rodeo America. Miss Rodeo Montana
is not a paid position, however, Hardy will receive
gifts, prizes, and scholarships totaling more than
$10,000, along with appearance fees throughout the
year. Her major fundraiser will be a hometown
Coronation in the spring. Some of her awards include
a Fur Vest from the Montana Trappers Association, a
gas card from Noon’s Food Stores, a silver buckle,
silver-trimmed briefcase and date book, trophy
saddle, custom hat crafted especially for Miss Rodeo
Montana by Double H Hats, a Montana Pro Rodeo
Circuit Jacket, autograph sheets, and her entry fees
paid into the Miss Rodeo America Pageant.
Hardy is a senior at Montana
State University in Bozeman majoring in Elementary
Education. The 5’6” brunette graduated from
Williston (ND) High School in 2002 and has also
attended the Barbizon School of Modeling, Williston
ND State College and Dickinson (ND) State
University. She was a 4-H member for 8 years and a
member of the National and North Dakota Cutting
Horse Association. She was a member of the 2001-2002
Wrangler High School All-Star Rodeo Team and
qualified for the National High School Rodeo all
four years of High School. In 2004 she held the
title of Miss Rodeo North Dakota State Fair. She
enjoys drama, dance and rodeo and is currently
assistant coaching with the Bozeman High School
speech team.
