The 16th Old Jo’s Firecracker 5K is coming to Saint Jo next week on July 4. Welcoming hardcore runners or those looking for a long walk, the race starts and ends at Saint Jo’s Square. You can register online at runsignup.com/Race/TX/SaintJo/ or you can go to Old Jo’s Firecracker 5K Facebook page. Participants 18 and under will cost $15 to register while those older will pay $30. This is a chip timed race on a certified 5K course for those looking to set a new personal record. The race will start at 8 a.m. After the race, for the first time there will be a Li’l Firecracker Run for kids aged six and under. The course will be much shorter as the young kids will also get a T-Shirt and medals. Registration for that event will be on site the day of the event.

Recently graduated Gold-Burg athlete Jayon Grace got invited to play in the Texas Six-Man Coaches Association all-star football game last weekend. Playing in the division II game on the victorious west team, Grace was named the games offensive most valuable player. He scored three touchdowns and had more than 100 yards of total offense despite only touching the ball four times during the game. “It was my last guaranteed game so I had to show out a little bit,” Grace said. “It was fun to be able to see what I am capable of against some guys who can keep up.”

As a part of the Jim Bowie Days celebration, the youth rodeo was on Tuesday and Wednesday night.
The first night consisted of speed events like barrel racing, pole bending and goat tying.
The second night was all about roping events which included breakaway roping, calf roping, ribbon roping and team roping.
In the barrel racing event, Blayklee Smith won the six-and-under category, Grace Laurence won the 7-10 age range, Lyndee Harsche won the 11-14 category and Hevenli Scribner won the 15-19 age division.
In the pole bending event, Ruth Ann Hutchinson won the 7-10 age category, Hadley Spence won the 11-14 age range and Hevenli Scribner again won the 15-19 division.
In the goat tying event, Ainsley Turner won the six-and-under group, Myles Turner won the 7-10 category, Rylie Marie Pollard finished first in the 11-14 division and Maddie Gaynor won the 15-19 age group.
On the second night it was all about roping events.
The only results for the 13-and-under group that was listed on the jimbowiedays.org website on Friday was for the ribbon roping event which was won by Lincoln Laminick. The rest of the results were for the 14-19 age division.
In the ribbon roping event for 14-19 was won by Cade Belen.
The breakaway roping event saw Allye Stark narrowly win.
Calf roping was won by Rendon Dowledge.
Finally, the team roping first place winners went to the team of Conley Kleinhans and Bren Fenoglio.

To see full results and see pictures from both nights, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.