First and foremost cowgirls

Young women vie to become Miss Moses Lake Roundup 2023

MOSES LAKE — Annabelle Booth said she was a great deal more confident going into this year’s Miss Moses Lake Roundup competition than she was in 2021. “I ran flags for the Moses Lake Roundup and this is my second year running for Miss Moses Lake Roundup queen,” said Booth, 23, before the roundup’s annual queen pageant on Saturday. “I’m definitely more prepared than I was last year, and I knew exactly what to expect.” Booth, who was Miss Last Stand Coulee City Rodeo in 2019, was one of four contestants — along with Milie Cobb, 19, of Ephrata; Jenna Penrose, 20, of Moses Lake; and Alexis Shoults, 19, of East Wenatchee — vying to wear the crown of Miss Moses Lake Roundup 2023. The four young women spent the day riding patterns on their own and other contestants’ horses, giving speeches, being interviewed by judges and answering questions about their favorite part of the Moses Lake Roundup and what they would do if they were thrown from a horse during a rodeo. “I’d get back up and say ‘rodeo on!’” Booth told pageant emcee Emma Gunderson, herself a former Miss Moses Lake Roundup in 2017.