2021-22 Lewiston Roundup Royalty
2021-22 Queen - Niah Griffin
The 2021-22 Lewiston Roundup Queen is Niah Griffin. The 19 year old daughter of Ryan and Brandi Griffin. Niah went to High School in Troy Idaho, is certified in Phlebotomy and is now attending University of Idaho in Agriculture Business major and Vocal Performance minor. She would like to pursue her career in large animal veterinary medicine at Washington State University. Currently she is working at Palouse Animal Wellness & Surgery Center.
Her experience with Horses started when she was 8 years old. 4H, FFA, Pony Club and still to this day shows and drives draft horses around the US and Canada. She is a Horse 4-H leader for the Moscow Mustangs and gives riding lessons.
Outstanding achievements are Clearwater Power youth rally, Girls State , Distinguished Young Women, Future Farmers of America State Officer candidate, Solo Ensemble top soprano vocalist, University of Idaho jazz fest soloist-vocal performance and Idaho 4-H Scholarship recipient.
From a very young age, She would look forward to attending the Lewiston Round Up. The excitement of watching the Royalty race into the arena left her on the edge of her seat. She was so amazed at the horsemanship and poise they possessed and was such an inspiration to her to become a better rider. In future years, She felt honored to sing the National Anthem in that same arena. She again had that same feeling of awe and inspiration in having a small part of an event so important to the history that is rodeo and the Round Up. If she were able to inspire our youth to uphold the traditions of horsemanship, rodeo and the love of our country and rural America, as she was inspired so many years ago, would be so fulfilling for herself. It is her goal for even one person in the stands to follow their dreams because of her efforts in the arena and within the community. It will be an honor for her to represent the Lewiston Round Up as Queen for the Royalty Court for 2022.
Niah would like to thank her family for all the support and help that she is receiving throughout the year. To the Lewiston Roundup Board of Directors for making this all possible.
2021-22 Princess - Alli Mortensen
Alli Mortensen is one of the 2021-22 Lewiston Roundup Princesses. The 20 year old daughter of Justin Mortensen and Denise Harlin. Alli attended school in Lewiston Idaho and is currently working at North 40 outfitters as the web lead. Her goal in her career is to advance to Web Operations Specialist.
Alli's experience with horses started at age 18. She had very little experience with horses growing up. It was her goal to own horses and wanted to go about it the right way. She started to take lessons from a local horse trainer "Jessie Guinn". Within 3 months she started working for them. Her responsibilities included warming up horses, general care, and giving lessons to young kids. That is where she found her first horse "Rabbit" to call her very own. Rabbit will be carrying Alli through all the rodeos and parades this year. Her love for horses hasn't stopped there. She now has a colt that she plans to break to ride. She competes in Barrel Racing, Pole Bending, Goat Tying, Team Penning, and Omoksee events. While her time with horses might not be the longest, She has dedicate herself to make up for lost time and having the best horsemanship she possibly can. Alli also enjoys her practice with leather and bead work.
Outstanding achievements include being crowned the 2021 Central Idaho Rodeo Queen, qualified and competed in Lewiston Roundups local girls barrel racing and was part of her schools D.E.C.A program and attended a state competition.
What inspired Alli the most to want to be involved in rodeo and the royalty program was seeing past courts come to her school in elementary. She knew then she had to get involved with horses and rodeo. She also loves what the community and family that rodeo brings. As her title as a princess for the Lewiston Roundup she wants to make an impact on people letting them know just what a cowgirl does, how important it is on how she makes people feel and for them to learn more about rodeo. Alli is proud to be an ambassador for the Lewiston Roundup. What she loves most about rodeo and Lewiston is the people are always there for each other.
Alli would like to thank the Lewiston Roundup for giving her the opportunity to be on the Royalty Court program and a special thank you to the Directors who are always there to help whenever needed. She thanks her family for all the support that they have given her on the way to where she is today.
2021-22 Princess - Loreal Ellenwood
Loreal Ellenwood is honored to represent the Lewiston Roundup as a 2021-22 Princess. Loreal is the daughter of Quincy and Janice Ellenwood, she is currently 18 years old and is a Nez Perce Tribal member from Lapwai Idaho. She is a Lapwai high school 2021 graduate who is a four-sport letterman in volleyball, basketball, track and softball. She also did seven years of gymnastics and holds many 1st place awards in the events of bars, vault, floor and all around. Loreal was ranked nationally for bars with USA Gymnastics, the first gymnast to do that for 360 Gymnastics Gym in Clarkston WA. Being in gymnastics taught her discipline, dedication, strength and to never give up. This mindset overlapped into her equestrian journey. Loreals' true passion is riding horses. She has been riding since she was 3 years old. She joined the Lewiston high school rodeo team where she participated in goat tying, breakaway, roping, poles and barrels. Loreal is a student at Lewis Clark State College where she plans to get an Associate's Degree and then transfer to a University to attain a Bachelor of Science degree to be a veterinarian, specializing in equestrian science.
As a young girl, Loreal would watch the Lewiston Roundup Royalty run into the arena and told herself that one day, she would be one of those girls. She knew that she needed to start working on her goal and she ran for the Chief Joseph Foundation Royalty and was chosen as Queen in 2019. She learned a great deal as Queen and took that responsibility very serious. She bought her first horse “George” from her Uncle Mike and began training him for barrels and breakaway. With no experience in horse training, she took the time to train with the help of Hahots Shebela, Karen Parvin, Tracy Hammond, Liz White, and Mike Ewing.
Loreal began to work towards her goal of competing in rodeo and becoming a Lewiston Roundup Royalty Member. Loreal is the first Nez Perce Tribal Member to be a Lewiston Roundup Princess in 88 years. She hopes to inspire other young women to follow their dreams and to know that if you work hard enough, your dreams will come true.
She would like to thank everyone who helped her along her journey to become a Lewiston Roundup Princess. She is thrilled to represent the Lewiston Roundup with Queen Niah and Princess Alli.
Loreal wants to thank all the Board of Directors for making this year possible and to Royalty Director Jamie for overseeing the Royalty program.
Sweethearts - Past Royalty
Queen DOROTHY BROCK
Princess MAYBELLE OLIVER
Princess MARION STRUSHON
Princess GWEN CHURCH
Princess PEARL STEWART