THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: July 30, 2014

Lakeland High graduate Brent Griffin has a dream a little different than most.

But for Griffin, who has played football and ran track, it's another calling that he'll be keeping a grip on in the fall.

GRIFFIN GRADUATED this spring from Lakeland and competed in the National High School Finals Rodeo July 13-19 in Rock Springs, Wyo., and will continue his rodeo career at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.

"I never had plans to go to college," Griffin said. "I didn't think I was smart enough."

After signing up for a rodeo in Twin Falls, he discovered it was a perfect fit.

"I started going around the area and looking at the campus," Griffin said. "I found out that I could be on the team, so I started going down and learning more about the school. If I can go do something I love and get a good education, I thought I'd might as well do it."

Griffin got his start when he was 4 years old, riding in various rodeos around the Northwest.

"I got put on my first sheep then," Griffin said. "About the time I got to start riding bulls, my mom and dad were a little scared I was going to get hurt."

To train, he travels to central Washington to prepare for events.

"We don't really have anything close," Griffin said. "Usually, I can get out on a bale of hay at home or on a regular saddle horse and practice getting a form down."

When he was 12, his parents made him give up rodeo, fearing he might get hurt. Eventually, Griffin turned out for the football and track teams his freshman and sophomore years at Lakeland.

"I wanted to go back (to rodeo) when I was 15," Griffin said. "It took a while to get back into it, but when I was 16, they said I was old enough and big enough to go on with it. There's been some rough patches (the worst being a few broken ribs), but so far, it's been paying off."

GRIFFIN COMPETED in the bareback riding competition at the National High School Finals Rodeo.

"You're always going to be nervous, but it's one of those things that once you get there, you've got to get up and do," said Griffin, who qualified for the national finals at a qualifying event in Kennewick, Wash., in May. "You can't be nervous once you're there."

Bareback riding involves putting one hand on the horse and having another free, wedging the hand on the rope.

"It's a bucking horse, so you've got to lay back because there's no saddle," Griffin said.

The event featured more than 1,500 entrants from 42 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia, making it the world's largest rodeo.

"Competing there is nothing that I can explain," Griffin said. "It was really a dream come true. It was really wild. I really didn't expect it to be that big and anything like it was. I just thought everyone talked it up, but it was a bigger deal than I'd ever realized."

He qualified for the national high school finals last year, but injuries kept him from competing.

"I tore some muscles in my shoulder and couldn't continue," Griffin said. "This is all I've wanted to do since I was a little kid. To me, eight seconds is better than an eight-hour day."

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at JEPressSports.