John Jefferson
A 19-year-old rodeo star, who won Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas in 2024, died in a single-vehicle car accident that left four of her teammates and a fifth person injured on Friday night in rural Kansas, according to officials.
Emma Brungardt, of Blue Rapids, was a passenger in a 2007 Ford F250 pickup truck traveling southbound on County Road 21 in Thomas County when the pickup “left the roadway” at the Y intersection and struck a tree row, Kansas Highway Patrol said in an online crash report.
Troopers said Brungardt was wearing her seatbelt at the time of the crash. The driver and four other passengers survived the crash, reporting possible injuries.
Colby Community College, where Brungardt was a sophomore, confirmed her death to Fox News Digital on Monday morning.
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The school’s rodeo team stated in a Facebook post that the other individuals in the vehicle included four other team members and a work study.
“We are praying for all families involved,” the post on the team page read. “Emma was a sweet soul who picked up other people and always had a positive attitude. Her light will live on in and around the rodeo arena.”
The driver of the pickup was an 18-year-old man from Colorado, according to the Highway Patrol’s crash report. The other passengers included a 20-year-old Larned woman, a 19-year-old Newton woman, a 19-year-old Galva woman and an 18-year-old man from Council Grove.
Brungardt majored in equine management and production. The rodeo events she competed in included goat tying, breakaway and team roping.
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Brungardt was named the 2024 Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas.
A website for the event described Brungardt as a “first-generation cowgirl” who “immersed herself in the western way of life.”
She was involved in FFA, a nonprofit organization that offers students agricultural classes, in high school and in the Kansas Wild Horse Youth Challenge, winning grand champion in 2019 and 2021, the website reads. She also competed in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association for two years.
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Brungardt was attending Colby Community College on a rodeo scholarship, according to the Miss Rodeo Kansas website.
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