Haleigh Grant waited patiently for her turn in the arena Sunday afternoon.

She wasn’t nervous even though this would be her first-ever rodeo competition.

The Santa Maria youngster was the final contestant in the Barrel Racing competition at the annual Elks Youth Rodeo at the Elks/Unocal Events Center.

Haleigh sat tall in the saddle as she waited for the starter’s signal.

The starter — Haleigh’s grandfather Marvin Teixeira — waved his orange flag signaling that it was time for her to go and she was off, racing to get around the three-barrel course as quickly as possible.

Haleigh is 2 years old.

“She turned 2 last November,” said her mother Stacey Teixeira Grant. “Haleigh’s been riding since she was 16 months old.”

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At the age of 2, Haleigh doesn’t run the course alone. Her aunt Marcey Teixeira — the 2005 collegiate women’s All Around champion — rode along to insure the little one’s safety.

“Haleigh love this. She’s on a horse at least three days a week,” said Marcey Teixeira, who has already started coaching Haleigh on the fine points of riding and roping.

Haleigh is typical of the competitors at the annual Youth Rodeo. Most of the young men and women began their rodeo careers at about the same age.

“I’ve been riding as long as I can remember — since I was about 2 years old,” said 15-year old Devon Gibson. “I’ve began competing when I was 5.”

Gibson is a Santa Maria native who now lives in Tehachapi.

“My family moved from here about four years ago,” said Gibson. “It’s fun coming back here every year. I love this rodeo and I miss everybody that I knew when we lived here.”

The young cowgirls and cowboys competed for championships in Breakaway Roping, Pole Bending and Barrel Racing. The top performers are invited back for the first event at the 64th annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo — the Youth Rodeo that will be put on before a packed house of local elementary school students on the morning of Thursday, May 31.

“There will be between 5- and 6,000 kids here for the Youth Rodeo,” said Marvin Teixeira, Haleigh’s proud grandfather who also oversees the arena activities during the Elks Team Roping and Youth Rodeo. “It’s a full rodeo, too. Today’s top finishers will be back for championship runs in front of a huge crowd of children — many of them have never seen a rodeo before. And we’ll have all the acts — Charlie “Too Tall” West will be back to perform and we’ll have a woman who does trick horseback riding for the kids.”

Breakaway Roping was Sunday’s first event.

Taylor Salazar has the fastest time in the first go-round. Becca Boyer was the quickest in the second. However, it was Marcey Teixeira who won the Open Breakaway championship with the lowest total time for the two runs.

Devon Gibson won the title in the 13-17 year old division of Breakaway. Lindy Milner came in second.

Gibson came right back to win her second title in the 13-17 year old Pole Bending competition.

Tawni Stoneburner finished second followed by Sara Honegger in third.

Gibson racked up her third title in the Open Division of Pole Bending.

Ali Bilkey took second and Hayley Hamer third in the Open division.

Bilkey claimed the champion’s title in the 10-12 year old division of Pole Bending. Hamer took second in that class.

Darbie Pond won the title with Chance Machado finishing second in the 7-9 year old division of Pole Bending and Fallon Ruffoni placed first with Sutton Mang coming in second in the 6-and-under division of Pole Bending.

There were eight different champions crown in Barrel Racing.

The Open division produced four champions — in 1D, Christy Mang took first followed by Marcey Teixeira. In 2D, Jessica Bainer took the top spot followed by Sara Honegger. In 3D, Debbie Jacobsen placed first and Melissa Roberts second. In 4D, Sierrah Madrigal came in first followed by Natalie Wilson.

In the age group divisions, Sara Honegger placed first in the 13-17 year old division followed by Taylor Jacobsen, Melissa Fortier, Devon Gibson and Renee Ledesma.

Madison Gibson, Devon’s 10-year old sister, took the title in the 10-12 year old division. Hayley Hamer placed second with Ali Bilkey third, Lexie Segura fourth and Cersten Branquinho fifth.

Amber Stoltey took the winner’s crown in the 7-9 year old division. She was followed by Kelsi Pond, Chance Machado, Amy Stoltey and Morgan Sarten.

Brandon Westfall took home his first championship in the 6-and-under division.

Fallon Ruffoni and Haleigh Grant tied for second.

“We also had a Stick Horse race for children 5 and under,” said Paulette Teixeira, Haleigh Grant’s grandmother who is also the hard working woman who oversaw all of the weekend’s activities. “The kids had to ride their stick horse around one barrel. I think Haleigh had more fun in the barrel race. We had to bribe her with M&Ms to get her to run in the Stick Horse race.”

“These kids are all part of the rodeo family,” said Elks Rodeo chairman Norm MacDonald. “The kids enjoy the riding. These horses enjoy the riding and they all enjoy the competition. The children, their parents and grandparents — the rodeo is a real good part of their lives. It’s great to see these kids continuing the tradition. We had an excellent tour out today.”

Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail to elliottstern@santamariatimes.com.