Taylor McNair was crowned Miss Rodeo America 2019 on Sunday, December 9 in Las Vegas.
The 23-year-old from Learned, Mississippi represented her home state at the Miss Rodeo America Pageant as the 2018 Miss Rodeo Mississippi, becoming the third from her state to hold the coveted national title.
In 2017, Taylor earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Business with a concentration on Policy and Law from Mississippi State University, where she competed on the Equestrian and Rodeo Teams. To enhance her strong voice for agriculture, Taylor will pursue a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree with a Master of Law in Agricultural and Food Law.
The Landstrom’s Black Hills Gold crown is accompanied by more than $20,000 in educational scholarships and prizes including a wardrobe of Wrangler jeans and shirts, an assortment of Montana Silversmiths jewelry, hats provided by Greeley Hat Works, and a selection of Justin Boots.
In addition to the title, McNair earned the Appearance, Personality, and Written Test Awards. She also received the Sherry Smith Memorial Scholarship, third place for her scrapbook and was the winner of the Chap Award.
This year, twenty-eight contestants represented their states in the week long national pageant consisting of a horsemanship competition, a written test on equine science and rodeo knowledge, extensive interviews, extemporaneous speaking, and a fashion show. The top five contestants – from Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Washington – each answered a question about how to share differing viewpoints while maintaining friendships.
During her reign as the official representative of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, McNair will travel around 100,000 miles and appear at nearly 100 rodeo performances, as well as making appearances at schools, civic groups and other special events in order to educate the public and create awareness about the sport of rodeo, its sponsors, and its opportunities.
McNair will also serve as a spokesperson at a variety of promotional events and model in commercial advertisements for western clothiers, publications, sponsors and other service providers to the western industry.
As Miss Rodeo America 2019, McNair will begin her duties by attending press conferences immediately following her coronation and spend the remainder of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo attending appearances with Miss Rodeo America 2018, Keri Sheffield of Florida. She will be introduced for the first time in the Thomas & Mack Center during the sixth performance of the WNFR on Tuesday, December 11.
McNair will spend the next year traveling more than 100,000 miles across the country representing the PRCA as our First Lady of Rodeo.