By David Taylor / Managing Editor
CROSBY, Texas — Peyton Givans, a seventhgrader at Crosby Middle School, won her third consecutive Grand Champion Market Steer title at the Crosby Fair and Rodeo, continuing a run of success that has made her one of the event’s most consistent exhibitors.
Givans also earned Champion Junior Showmanship honors for the third time in her Crosby Fair and Rodeo career. Her 1,435-pound heavyweight market steer, “Eyes on Me,” was selected as grand champion by judge Ryan Rash, who called it “a solid champion with a fantastic exhibitor.” The steer later sold to Third Coast Terminal for $12,750.
Reserve Champion Market Steer went to Brady Harlien, also a seventhgrader at Crosby Middle School, with his 1,285- pound middleweight steer, “Gator.” Harlien’s steer sold for $12,700 to Scott Stephens and associates, underscoring the depth of competition in this year’s show.
Peyton Givans said one of her favorite parts of the fair is seeing the level of competition each year.
“I love to look at the quality of the projects that everyone brings,” she said. “It is getting tougher each year, and this year all the animals were so good from the top to the bottom. I love when exhibitors from other towns talk about how tough the Crosby Fair and Rodeo is with the competition that shows up each year.”
She said this year’s sales felt stronger than last year’s and credited fair organizers and buyers for improving support for exhibitors.
“This year the sale was much better and support was great,” Givans said. “The fair board made a lot of changes for us exhibitors to get the numbers up, and they worked hard at it, and it showed. I really do appreciate their support along with all of the buyers that came out to support our projects.”
David Givans said this year’s steer show stood out because of how competitive it was from top to bottom, with entries more evenly matched than in many previous years.
“This year, it was really a good year to see just because the quality was so consistent from the top to the bottom,” David Givans said. “There were so many animals that were so closely evaluated. It was definitely a nerve-wracking year just because they were so evenly matched against each other.”
Givans dad wasn’t sure they would be return champions this year.
“I didn’t bring in the quality that we typically keep for ourselves. I try to keep one or two for my kids and then we sell the rest that are the higher quality. This year, I sold all the quality projects and my kids kind of got what was left over,” he said.
Peyton’s calf fed right, grew right, and happened to be what the judge was looking for in a grand champion.Last year’s show was really down for steer exhibitors and this year it was up slightly, including bidding.
“My kids have been blessed,” Givans said. “I’ve always told them they needed to learn to lose before you can learn to win.”
Peyton started off with a reserve champion win her very first year five years ago. The second year, she fell towards the bottom of the sale order.
“It taught her how to lose and be humble—win with grace and lose with grace,” he said.Since then, she’s been on a great stretch earning three straight Grand Champion wins since.Despite the expense, Givans said “There’s nothing that we wouldn’t do for them.”
Leave a Comment