Mississippi ‘cowgirl’ crowned Miss Rodeo America 2018 in Las Vegas
November 25, 2019 - 3:36 pm

Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair, second from left, waves to the crowd with Kiki Shumway, executive board president of Miss Rodeo America, third from left, after McNair winning the Miss Rodeo America 2019 title at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo America 2018 Kerri Sheffield places a crown on the 2019 winner Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Taylor Spears, left, holds hands with Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair as they are announced as the last two finalists at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Oklahoma Taylor Spears, left, hugs Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair as McNair is announced the winner at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Contestants dance on stage at the beginning of the coronation performance for Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Nevada Makenzie McMurtrey tells the crowd a fun fact about her at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Nevada Makenzie McMurtrey walks the stage at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Contestants at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

The final five contestants hold hands as they are announced at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Idaho Sydney Butler answers a question from he judges at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo America 2018 Kerri Sheffield walks the stage for the last time for her reign at the Miss Rodeo America 2019 at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair looks to the crowd after winning the Miss Rodeo America 2019 title at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair reacts after winning the Miss Rodeo America 2019 title at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo America 2018 Kerri Sheffield, left, hugs the new Miss Rodeo America 2019, Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair, at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Contestants swarm the winner Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair after her win at the Miss Rodeo America at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae

Miss Rodeo Mississippi Taylor McNair looks to the crowd after winning the Miss Rodeo America 2019 title at the Tropicana hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Sunday, Dec. 9, 2018. Sunday was the final day of the more than week long competition that includes horsemanship events. Rachel Aston Las Vegas Review-Journal @rookie__rae
A previous version of this story was published Dec. 9, 2018.
A 23-year-old woman with long brown curls, chandelier earrings and a slight Southern drawl clutched a bouquet of roses. A gold belt buckle cinched the waist of her orange sequined dress, and she wore a white cowboy hat topped with a dazzling jeweled crown.
Taylor McNair, of Learned, Mississippi, was crowned Miss Rodeo America 2018 at the Tropicana.
As Miss Rodeo America, a role created in 1955, she hopes she will be remembered for building relationships with behind-the-scenes rodeo personnel.
“I’m a cowgirl through and through, and I hope they understand that Miss Rodeo America is here for them and that I’m a representative of them,” she said.
McNair, who grew up on a farm and has a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business, won $20,000 in scholarships in the pageant, which she said she will use for law school.
As part of the weeklong pageant, McNair performed in a horsemanship competition and a fashion show and took a written test on equine science and rodeo knowledge. Two of the four judges who chose McNair said she exhibited “queenlike” qualities.
“She had a genuineness that was real apparent,” Parley Pearce said. “Her smile comes very natural to her.”
Fellow judge Joni James Smith, Miss Rodeo America 1990, lauded McNair for interrupting her own pageant preparation to help a fellow contestant sew a button back onto her outfit.
McNair was swarmed by the 27 other Miss Rodeos on the stage after her name was announced.
“That is the most incredible, extraordinary group of women I have ever met in my entire life, and they each would have done a great job as Miss Rodeo America,” McNair, Miss Rodeo Mississippi 2018, said. “Their support and their love – it truly makes a girl feel so so special.”
“The first time I went to the (National Finals Rodeo) I cried. I cried at the rodeo. It was a little embarrassing,” McNair said. “It’s just magic in there. It’s the Super Bowl of rodeo, and it’s like none other. To be able to be on the arena floor horseback and hear my name, oh I can’t even imagine.”
McNair said her platform during her reign will be to encourage individuality.
“I have always just said, ‘Be you. Be yourself,’” she said. “God only made one of you and he gave us each unique skills and each unique talents. Use that; don’t compare yourself to others. Be incredibly and uniquely you, and embrace that in everything you do.”