Heat, heifers and a packed ring
The weather was miserable, the kind of July heat that makes the fairgrounds shimmer and everyone move a little slower. Temperatures climbed past 100 degrees every day of the Eddy County Fair, but when the dairy heifers entered the ring, people still packed in until it was standing room only.
The heifers looked about as interested in being judged as anyone would be in that heat. They did not want to move, and they surely did not seem eager to be inspected for appearance, muscle, structure, and show presence.
For Artesia High School senior Kyle Bean, 17, there was plenty riding on the outcome. Bean showed eight heifers, hoping for prize money, bragging rights, and one more strong fair before football takes over his life for good.
One more drive
Bean, an offensive lineman for the Bulldogs, wants to finish his senior year as a state champion. Before he gets there, he has another championship setting in mind: the Eastern County Fair, where he hopes to close his livestock career the way competitors dream about closing anything — strong, clean and with no regrets.
At the 81st Eddy County Fair, held July 21-25, Bean finished second, third, third, and fourth with his heifers. It was a good day by most standards. It was not the day he wanted.
“I was a little disappointed before the Grand Drive,” Bean said. “My sister was reserve champion, and I am so happy.”
Built to compete
For the Beans, the dairy heifer show is their Super Bowl. The family did well overall, and Bean and his sister made the sale Saturday night, July 25. Still, Bean is wired to want more. That is what makes him good in the show ring and valuable on a football field.
“It is good to win money,” Bean said. “But it is good to win and be successful in what you do. It is rewarding because I am very competitive, and for my sister to get reserve champion overall, I am happy.”
That competitiveness now carries into the final stretch of his fair life and his last high school football season. Bean knows that teams never receive championships without earning them. Championships are earned in the heat, in the ring, in the weight room, and under the lights.
He has one more fair to chase and one more season to finish. For Bean, that is the point. End the fair right. End the senior year right. Go out like a champion.
JT Keith can be reached at 575-420-0061 or on X@JTKEITH1.