The Hills: A family of athletes

Columbia Falls bull rider Beau Hill will head to Las Vegas this week to compete in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s National Rodeo Finals.

Hill has been riding bulls as a professional since he was 18. Now 35, he just came off a good performance at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, taking sixth overall.

The National Finals in Las Vegas start Dec. 4. Hill competed in PRCA events this year to spend more time with his family.

Hill and his wife Keri have three children, daughter Lakia, 12, and sons Jace, 9, and Jory, 5.

Lakia is a standout basketball player at school — the top scorer on the team. The boys rode calves in rodeos all summer, doing well as they’re following in their father’s footsteps. They also enjoy sports — it’s a family of athletes.

Hill said he’s looking forward to watching them compete as they grow older. They’ve been watching their father a lot this year.

“I take them all over the country,” he said. “They’re well-traveled. It’s a lot of fun, and I don’t get so homesick on the road.”

Keri and Beau were high school sweethearts — they’ve been together since they were sophomores in high school. They were both excellent basketball players at Columbia Falls — in their senior years, both helped lead their teams to state tournaments in basketball.

Beau also played baseball for the Glacier Twins and didn’t really get into rodeo until his sophomore year in Columbia Falls. But by the time he graduated, he’d shown his bull riding mettle and earned a scholarship at Miles City Community College.

Rodeo is one of the rare sports where a person can compete professionally as well as in the amateur ranks, Hill explained. Over his career, he’s seen plenty of success, qualifying for the Built Ford Tough Series Finals on several occasions.

But he’s slowing down a bit now — he has a nagging wrist injury, a tendon problem that will require surgery to fix entirely. Hill thought about getting the operation, but it would have kept him out of competition for an entire season, and he doubted he would have come back.

Hill’s not sure what he’ll do in retirement, but bull riding is a lot like professional football — it takes its toll on your body.

He said he keeps in touch with Columbia Falls bull rider Matt Triplett, who took fifth in the Built Ford Tough World Finals this year. Triplett credits Hill for much of his success.

“He’s been having an awesome year,” Hill said. “We talk on the phone a lot.”

Hill encourages local riders to pursue their dreams.

“Stick with it and go at it 100 percent,” he said.

Hill said he has no regrets about bull riding as a career.

“It beats sitting in an office somewhere.”