2022's Miss Strathmore Stampede will be crowned this Sunday, and we have a strong pool of competitors this year! Four girls will be competing for the crown, and you can learn all about them here.

Ashley Gillespie (18)

Before entering the rodeo, Ashley's first love was gymnastics, where she was a member of Team Canada and had many national wins.

"I'm a barrel racing breakaway roping rodeo cowgirl, but I actually was a national level gymnast before I hit the rodeo trail full-time. I was always immersed in the western lifestyle, but my first love was for the sport of gymnastics," she said.

While she wasn't a rodeo athlete her whole life, she's always been a part of the rodeo community, which she says was her biggest motivator to enter this year's Miss Strathmore Stampede contest.

"Definitely the hard work and determination of all the volunteers and the committee members. With the time I've spent with the committee members and the volunteers these last couple weeks, their determination and their loyalty, their support and friendship shouldn't go unnoticed, and it would be a true honour to represent these people and the Stampede and the western lifestyle."

Once she became a rodeo athlete, she quickly became a barrel racer and hopes to compete next year once she gets her pro card. Given that she's a barrel racer, she says this is one of her highlights of the Strathmore Stampede.

"I'm a barrel racer myself, so one of my favourite events is the lady's barrel racing. Another highlight for me is the chuckwagons. we have so many from all around Alberta, it's one of the biggest chuckwagon races you'll see. It's so adrenaline-filled and it's so much fun."

She added that horsemanship is something she prides herself in, and considers it one of her greatest strengths since she's always outside.

Outside of the rodeo, Ashley is a kinesiology student at Red Deer Polytechnic. She hopes that she'll be able to use her kinesiology skills to contribute to the rodeo.

"One of my goals with kinesiology is to ultimately help our cowboys and cowgirls outside the arena, with hopefully someday working on the Canadian pro rodeo sports medicine team."

Martina Holtkamp (24)

Martina grew up in a farm outside of Rimbey, which is where her love of agriculture started. For her, being Miss Strathmore Stampede was always a lifelong dream.

"I was that classic little girl at 7 years old, I watched a rodeo queen and I was like 'I want to be here some day.' So that's what really motivated me to enter the competition. Also, just the true authentic love for rodeo. Rodeo is something I grew up with, it's taught me so many skills, about mindset, hard work, achieving your goals, and those are the values I would like to reflect as Miss Strathmore stampede," she said.

Given that she grew up on a farm, Martina believes that it's important to preserve the western way of life.

"There's just so many good values that come from it. From hard work, family-orientated values, ambition, and preserving our agriculture and western heritage. There's a lot of great values and family support that surrounds that and I think that's why it's important."

Martina has a long history with rodeo and agriculture, and she's very involved with the rodeos events.

"You can see me pretty busy in the arena, I compete in bell racing, pole bending, goat tying, and my favourite, ladies cow riding."

Other than participating in the Stampede, she also enjoys being a spectator and seeing the next generation of potential riders rise.

"I think the running with the bulls is a super unique event to Strathmore, it's a lot of action and I'm really looking forward to watching it on the August long weekend. Also, I really like how the Strathmore Stampede looks to the next generation of rodeo contestants. They actually have a rodeo school August 15-18 following the Stampede to build the next generation of competitors in a safe and knowledgeable environment."

Martina said her biggest strength is her optimism, which she considers a very important part of being a rodeo competitor.

"I try to be as positive as I can and radiate that to others. And I think as a rodeo competitor, I compete in the ladies cow riding and rough stock is such an event that is highly dependent on your mindset. Envisioning a ride and being positive and looking forward for the best areas of improvement and growing from that. So I'd say just radiating that positivity and joy to those around me would be my greatest strength."

When she's not at the rodeo, she's busy working at Farm Credit Canada, but you can also find her on the rugby field or snowboarding.

Tea Dilillo (22)

Tea grew up in Calgary and didn't have a farm, but it was something she knew she always wanted. Now, she gets to live her dream.

"As soon as I was old enough and able I did my own work and got my own farm. I keep my own horses there, I've got goats, flocks of chickens, dogs and cats. It's a whole farm experience, it's what I've always wanted growing up," she said.

Even though she didn't live on a farm, Tea has always been involved in the rodeo and horse riding lifestyle.

"I grew up riding. I grew up riding with my mom, I rode in the mountains, I rode bareback for years. I really got into horsemanship in 2020, I graduated from Olds college where I got my diploma in equine sciences, and I work as a professional horse trainer now."

Tea's extensive background with riding made it an easy choice for her to compete in the Miss Strathmore Stampede Contest.

"I was a Calgary stampede show rider for seven years, and of those seven years, five of them I actually got to ride and represent in the Strathmore Stampede, so I performed there and I also ran flags. I loved the event, it was my absolute favourite event of the year. So after I found out that Strathmore was actually having a contest, it was absolutely a no-brainer why I wanted to be a part of it. I'd already been a part of the Strathmore family, it was to go into more and give back to the community that already gave me so much."

Other than performing, Tea also loves being a spectator.

"My favourite part has definitely got to be the signature running with the bulls event. my dad has actually been in the running with the bulls numerous times, and it's super fun and super exciting and totally unique to Strathmore. So I'm definitely looking forward to watching that again."

If she becomes Miss Strathmore Stampede, Tea hopes to connect more people to the rodeo and be an educator.

"You have an opportunity to connect the rodeo fans to the athletes and being able to be an educator on the western way of life. Educate them on how the animals are treated well and how they're treated fairly. Being an advocate for those athletes as well as the animals."

Animal welfare is something Tea is passionate about. She believes the animals are treated very well, and that it's a misconception that they are harmed or poorly treated in a rodeo.

"We have animal welfare people that are advocating for the animals, and these animals are treated as athletes. If they aren't treated well they aren't going to perform well. So they actually get fantastic, fabulous care. So it's a really common misconception that they're not treated well. It's actually the opposite, they're treated very well because they have to perform."

Haleigh Harwood (18)

Haleigh grew up in Strathmore and has been riding horses since she was three. Her local background is one of the main reasons she wants to represent Strathmore as Miss Strathmore Stampede.

"First of all I enjoy the sport of rodeo, I think it's awesome. I'm also from this community, so I thought being the local girl would be alright. Harwood has been a pretty big family name around Strathmore. We've had our own school and stuff like that," she said.

Haleigh has a long history of riding and working with horses, but has never been in a rodeo before. She says this could also be a great learning opportunity for her to branch out from what she's used to.

"It would be an extremely cool experience because I've actually never been in a rodeo before. I've mostly done showing horses and gymkhanas and stuff like that, but I've never actually competed in a rodeo, so it could be a pretty decent learning experience."

As a local Strathmore resident herself, Haleigh said she loves how the Stampede can bring the entire community together. 

"My favourite part of the stampede itself is I enjoy seeing community members get together, and they get to share in the commonalities of what rodeo brings. Strathmore is a major agricultural-based town, so i think it's great that it can incorporate our farmers, as well as newer people coming into the town and living here. They get to experience the community as a whole and possibly meet new people and it's just a very good way of showing the town's character."

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