Kendra Santos
Don’t let Rylie Edens being a fresh-faced 14-year-old kid with braces on that sweet smile fool you. She hasn’t even started her freshman year of high school yet, but she’s already a full-grown breakaway roping wolf, who’s ready to show the big dogs her fangs every time she backs in the box. And with the 2.42-second perf-winning run last night, she advanced to Monday’s Gold Medal Round here at the $562,500 Utah Days of ’47 in Salt Lake City.
“The WCRA is great for me, because I can compete against all the best girls now (she’ll have to wait four more years to turn 18 to turn pro),” Edens said. “My ultimate goal is to win the NFR (National Finals Rodeo), and events like this are preparing me mentally for where I want to go.”
Jordi Edens—no relation—turned up the heat last night right in front of Rylie with a 2.50-second run. Rylie and her sorrel mare Tater answered the call, and eclipsed her close friend—barely—by eight-hundreths of a second.
“This is really exciting for me,” Rylie said. “Jordi and my parents are best friends, and Jordi and I have grown up close, because of people mixing us up. We aren’t related, but we’re great friends.”
Both Edens will now advance to Monday’s Gold Medal Round—Rylie for winning the perf, and Jordi for being one of the three fastest times that didn’t win her performance.
Rylie’s mom and principal at Covington Independent School District drove them to Salt Lake City from their hometown in Hillsboro, Texas—because Rylie’s also two years away from her driver’s license.
“With my mom being the principal, I definitely don’t have any days off,” she smiled. “But we’re going to take a chill day today (Sunday) to sleep in and go white-water rafting. I’m excited thinking about that Gold Medal Round tomorrow night. If there’s a word for excited and nervous, I’m that.”
