NORTH WASHINGTON — High school rodeo is back in town.

The North Washington rodeo grounds will host the Pennsylvania High School Rodeo Association this weekend. Events will run from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The high school rodeo season runs from August through June. The top four total points finishers in each of 11 events advance to the National High School Rodeo Championships July 21 to 27 in Farmington, N.M.

The PHSRAseason consists of 24 rodeos throughout the state. The association has a total of 80 members from Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland.

"North Washington is one of the better venues on the circuit,"said PHSRApresident Bill Martin, a Slippery Rock resident. "Most of our members participate in every rodeo to get the points."

This weekend marks the second high school rodeo event of the season in North Washington. The first was held in October.

"I started competing in October and have been doing a rodeo nearly every other weekend since," said Lauren Carfangia, 13, of Slippery Rock.

"I do barrel racing and pole bending. I'm working on learning goat tying and roping right now."

Events comprising a high school rodeo include bull riding, bareback bronco riding, saddle bronco riding, calf roping, barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, steer wrestling, breakaway roping and team roping.

Carfangia competes in the PHSRA's Wrangler Division, a division for sixth grade through eighth that the association formed in 2004. She stood fifth in barrel points and seventh in pole points through the end of March.

Other area PHSRAmembers include Martin's son Logan, Chris Cratty of Butler, Jacob Rassau of Sarver, Chelsea Senopole of West Sunbury, Maura Moretti of Gibsonia and Jessica Watson of Wexford.

Rassau leads in bull riding points and finished 11th nationally in that event last year. He also stands seventh in steer wrestling points.

Logan Martin is sixth in steer wrestling points.

"There's some rodeo history in the Slippery Rock area and you have to know the sport exists to be involved,"Bill Martin said. "Some older people in this area have done rodeo.

"The Slater family in Hooker have trained some of the best steer wrestlers to come out of Western Pennsylvania. The Buckhorn Ranch in West Sunbury has exposed kids to a lot of events as well."

The fee to join the PHSRAas an active member is $170 for the High School Division, $120 for the Wrangler Division.

"It's up to the individual how many events he or she enters,"Martin said. "It all depends on how much time, training, money and skills you want to put into it."

Carfangia said she usually goes up against 10 girls when she competes.

"I enjoy it. I want to do this through high school," she said.

Admission fee to the North Washington rodeo is $5 for adults, $3 for children. Youth groups are admitted free.

Martin said each rodeo event generally attracts 250 to 300 spectators.

The National High School Rodeo Association consists of 40 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia. Its membership is about 12,500.

The Pennsylvania association was formed in 1990. The first national high school rodeo event was held in Texas in 1949.