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News you can use
Jonnie Jonckowski poses for a portrait Dec. 4 with her horse Sunny in the barn at Angel Horses in Billings. Jonckowski is a Hall of Fame, two-time champion bull-riding pioneer. She began as a hurdler from a Division III school in Montana with a real shot at the big time. Jonckowski made the 1976 U.S. Olympic Trials and had high hopes of making the Olympic Games in Montreal, but switched to rodeo after injuring herself during the trials. She went on to become the first woman professional bullrider.
MARK ANDERSON
AP Sports Writer
Jonnie Jonckowski didn't meekly break down gender barriers in the ever dangerous sport of bull riding, she brazenly rode through obstacles en route to becoming a Hall of Fame pioneer in the male-dominated rodeo arena.
Now, the retired Jonckowski wants to see more doors open in the sport for women, and her dream is being revived through athletes like Najiah Knight, the 17-year-old who is trying to make it to the highest level of the all-male Professional Bull Riders tour.
"Let them girls perform," Jonckowski said. "They're not going to play tackle football in the...
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