Local girl wins at prestigious cattle sorting competition

Provided photo: Maci Manicki teamed with Mike Weldon to win first place at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Jackson, Ohio.

Maci Manicki,15, of Kent recently won first place at the Ranch Sorting National Championships Congress Super Sort.

Manicki teamed with Mike Weldon to take the championship among 179 teams in the rookie division. They competed as part of the All American Quarter Horse Congress in Jackson, Ohio on Oct. 17.

With Ranch Sorting, a group of 11 cattle are gathered into a 50-to-60-foot round pen. All but one of the cattle is tagged with a number from 0 to 9.

Riders compete as a two person team with the objective to sort the cattle, one at a time, away from the herd and through an opening between the pens. (Click here to see a video of Maci Manicki at the competition.)

It is a difficult challenge. The cattle must be sorted in sequential order according to the back numbers.

The arena announcer calls out a number, at random, between O and 9. As the first rider enters the pen with the cattle while the other rider guards the opening between the pens.

The sorter must start with the animal tagged with the announced number and work through the sequence. Any untagged animal is left in the pen.

The sort has a time-limit. The team with the most accumulated cattle in the least amount of time after the three rounds wins. Manicki and Weldon sorted 29 cattle in three rounds totaling 167.59 seconds.

Along with cattle sorting, Manicki has competed in the Pennsylvania and New York high school rodeo circuits, where she does barrels, poles, goat tying and breakaway roping. She has won multiple events including year-end “All Around Cowgirl” for her division. Manicki also competes in the Attica Rodeo and Show Association, running barrels and team penning.