Get back on and ride

Jess Oak

TORRINGTON – The fourth annual Hadly McCormick Memorial Roping took place this past weekend at the Goshen County Fairgrounds in Torrington. Roping fans from Nebraska, Wyoming and beyond traveled to the pavilion on Saturday, June 27, to honor the memory of a great cowboy whose life was cut short when he died in an automobile accident.

McCormick (23) was a former student of Central Wyoming College (CWC) and was active in rodeo all his life.

“McCormick was in the CWC rodeo from 2016-18 and later transferred to Oklahoma-Panhandle State University. The Scottsbluff, Nebraska native competed in tie-down roping, team roping and steer wrestling,” CWC said on March 29, 2021.

McCormick’s Oklahoma Panhandle State University (OPSU) rodeo teammate Cinch Bullock (19) was also killed in the crash.

“The best way I can describe Hadly is that he loved to catch calves and he lived life to the fullest. No matter what I asked him to do, he was willing to do it with a big Hadly smile. He was a great student, teammate and everyone who had the chance to meet him was better for it,” Drew Schrock, CWC rodeo coach, said in a previous release.

“Hadly was a giver,” said his mother, Katherine McCormick. “He gave his horses. He let other people ride his horses in high school. He let other people ride his horses in college. Hadly was a giver. If there was something to give, he gave.”

A memorial competition with a rodeo medal and a scholarship seemed like the perfect way to continue to honor Hadly, his love of rodeo, and his unquestionable desire to help others.

“He puts his perspective into everything,” Katherine explained. “It’s always good to give back to young people.”

The memorial game will also feature four $1,000 scholarships awarded to area high school seniors in the name of the fallen cowboy.

Years ago, scholarships were awarded at the valley’s first rodeo, the Panhandle Rodeo in Bridgeport, Nebraska. However, due to a scheduling issue, this year’s scholarships were awarded to area students at the Harrison, Nebraska roping, Katherine said.

“I think we’re going to stick to Harrison roping from now on,” Katherine explained. “We’re going to give it out at the Harrison roping high school rodeo. We’ve given out four $1,000 scholarships this year. We’re giving away everything we can.”

Katherine further explained that once the costs were covered, the remainder of the funds were returned to the community.

During the event on Saturday, horse groomers could win buckles, bridles, a saddle and much more.

“The buckles were hand designed by me and Sheridan Buckle Company. We made all four memorials,” Katherine explained.

Katherine also explained about AW Laser Art in Kimball and provided some supplies for the roping event, such as banners and items for the silent auction.

“A lot of the banners and a lot of the silent auction items came from Amber Wilke,” Katherine said. “She did a fantastic job. She did about 80% of the silent auction items and I had a lot of rodeo people donate.”

The course laid out for the event was built by Scott McClain and his wife Tracey of Chalk Butte Tack in Crawford.

“They designed it and made it. They did it all by hand. It’s handmade stuff,” Katherine said. “The saddle was Trent Ward. It was a Trent Ward saddle and it was a very good saddle.”

“We had a wide variety of people,” Katherine explained. “We had a girl from Alabama and a young boy from New Mexico. We also had a couple of Hadly’s classmates roping from Goodwell, Oklahoma.”

Katherine hopes to expand the memorial roping events in Hadly’s honor in the future.

“I would like to see it expanded,” Katherine explained. “My dream is to give as many scholarships as possible, but also to expand to the students. I think we need to expand to those who survive that tough year, that first year. You know, things don’t go exactly as planned or if you have a great first year, so be it. I would like to expand it. I would like to find a student who is in their second year of college and give them $1,000 as well,” Katherine said.

“We don’t get a lot of donations,” Katherine said. “I hope I get more. We make just enough to cover the saddle and tack that we have, and the roping helps a lot too.”

The scholarship is awarded to high school seniors in Nebraska, but Katherine says it’s only a matter of time before the scholarships are also available to students from Wyoming.

“We’d like to stay with seniors and rodeo, but we definitely want them to go to college rodeo,” Katherine said. “Some things are really doable and some things just aren’t. Our intentions, our full intentions, are to have absolute rodeo all four years. We really want to stay with Nebraska. I don’t know if we can stay with Nebraska or if we go to Wyoming or not. We very well could and should.”

Katherine and her family keep Hadly’s memory and his equally important willingness to give alive through the roping event.

“This is my big idea, I would like to give four scholarships to high school students and two scholarships to college students,” Katherine said. “Who couldn’t use $1,000? That’s just more burden on their parents and more burden on them.”

“I believe in our young people and so did Hadly,” Katherine said. “He was going to be an agriculture teacher. He was three weeks away from graduating from OPSU. I think it’s about retaining our young people and keeping them going. Don’t give up. Keep going. If you fail, so what, get up and do it again.”