Her parents were unaware of Cushing's interest in competing at that point. After the conversation, her mother stopped giving lessons and started helping her daughter. Only two weeks later, Cushing was crowned as a Salt Lake County 4H princess. Later she was also crowned as Miss West Jordan Stampede. It wasn't until her fifth run that she won the Miss Rodeo Utah title.

"I'm glad I kept going, because now I'm ending with a dream come true," she said. "I have no regrets. I'm ready to move on to what's next in my life."

Cushing plans to attend school at Weber State University in the fall where she has a year left until she finishes her bachelor's degree in Public Relations.

The advice Cushing would pass to any potential competitors for the Miss Rodeo Utah title is to be true to themselves.

"You get coaches, mentors and people who come in and judge it, supposedly to give constructive criticism, which is sometimes destructive," she said. "I think a lot of girls try to be the cookie cutter rodeo queen, and that's not true. My advice is to anyone wanting to compete is to just be you. You can always work on yourself, but don't change who you are."

Cushing said her reign wouldn't have been possible without the support of family, friends and sponsors, who helped finance her travels and offered support.

"I want to make sure people who have supported me know they're the backbones to my success," she said. "I had the time of my life, but without them, I couldn't have done this."

For more information about the Miss Rodeo Utah competition, visit missrodeoutah.org.

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E-mail: twalquist@desnews.com