A Grann Honor

Bobbi Grann Olson, a 2009 graduate of New Rockford-Sheyenne, was recently inducted into the Dickinson State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

She was officially inducted as a female rodeo athlete on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the DSU Rodeo Team's annual Cowboys and Candlelight event.

For Olson, it was a highlight of her incredibly successful career in rodeo, which is still far from over.

She first showed a talent for various rodeo events at a young age, and she eventually became one of the best female rodeo athletes in the country while attending Dickinson State University.

"It's an honor to be recognized among great rodeo athletes, many of whom I have always looked up to," said Olson about her Hall of Fame induction. "Dickinson is a very important and memorable part of my life. I am just humbled to be part of their history."

After graduating from NR-S in 2009, Olson attended Lake Region State College for two years and played basketball while she earned her Associates of Science degree.

She then attended Dickinson State University (DSU), where she earned a degree in resource management and property management.

DSU is also where Olson found much of her rodeo success, as she amassed numerous accolades and trophies over the course of her collegiate career.

Competing all over the county in barrel racing, goat tying, breakaway roping and team roping, Olson won numerous region titles and qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo all four years she competed.

During her senior year in 2015, she placed third at the College National Finals Rodeo in the goat tying event.

Her excellent performances that year had her ranked No. 1 in the country in goat tying and No. 2 in the women's all-around going into the 2015 rodeo finals.

Throughout her years on the road competing for DSU, Olson said she also developed unique friendships and became a better individual.

"Our team traveled a lot and we were gone for many days at a time to our rodeos," said Olson. "We had fun and supported each other. My teammates became family to me.

"I had great coaches; Jen Obergewitch and Eudell Larsen, they supported me and believed in me," she added. "They also held me accountable for my mistakes and made me a better person."

Many in Eddy County will remember Olson from her years growing up on her family's ranch 7 miles north of Sheyenne, N.D., where she developed a love for rodeo and her competitive spirit.

Olson said her parents have competed in rodeo her whole life, and taught her most of what she knows about the sport.

Years later, she's built upon that knowledge to become the nationally recognized rodeo athlete she is today, and it all started just north of Sheyenne in rural Benson County.

"I was interested in rodeo at a very young age," said Olson. "I have always loved horses and I am competitive and love competition. That all equals rodeo.

"... I would not have had the opportunities to be successful without my parents," she added. "Nor would I have had the great horses to compete on if it wasn't for my parents training them for me."

Currently, Olson is living in Stephenville, Texas with her husband Logan Olson, a native of Flandreau, S.D. Together they have two children, Ellie and Emerson, who are 1-1/2 and 3 years old, respectively.

Olson said she trains performance horses for a living and still competes in rodeo, though she has narrowed her focus to just the barrel racing event.

"Rodeo is a very important part of our lives," said Olson, "we compete in the rodeos in North Dakota and South Dakota each summer and the goal is to qualify for the Badlands Circuit Finals each fall in October."

With all her success, Olson has certainly established herself as one of the greatest rodeo athletes to come out of this area, and she's still representing her home well on the rodeo circuit to this day.

Olson's induction into the DSU Athletic Hall of Fame is a crowning achievement in her career, and as she and her horses continue to perform at rodeos throughout the country, it may not be the last.

This article was updated on March 3, as it was incorrectly noted that the Granns reside in Eddy County. Their farmstead is actually located in Benson County, Eddy County’s neighbor to the north. Bobbi Grann Olson is a native of Sheyenne. We regret the error.