Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas dies in car crash that left five others injured

by · Mail Online

The 2024 Miss Teen Rodeo Kansas died tragically on Friday in a car crash that left five of her teammates injured.

Emma C Brungardt, 19, was pronounced dead on the scene of the single-vehicle crash in rural Thomas County at around 9.45pm, the Wichita Eagle reports.

The 18-year-old driver of the 2007 Ford F-250  was heading south on County Road 21 when Kansas Highway Patrol officers said he approached a Y intersection and went off-road, striking a row of trees.

The truck came to a stop upright, and the driver and four other passengers were all taken to a local hospital after they complained of pain, Kansas Highway Patrol officials.

The other victims have not been identified, but Kansas Highway officials said they include a 20-year-old woman, two 19-year-old women, and an 18-year-old man.

Emma C Brungardt, 19, was pronounced dead on the scene of the single-vehicle crash in rural Thomas County Friday night

The Colby Community College Rodeo Team - which Brungardt was also a part of - said the victims are 'four other members and our work study.'

'Emma was a sweet soul who picked up other people and always had a positive attitude,' the team wrote on Facebook.

'Her light will live on in and around the rodeo arena.'

The Miss Rodeo Kansas Pageant also called the 19-year-old a 'true gem and horse woman who embodied what it meant to be a rodeo queen, always going above and beyond what was expected of her.' 

'We will miss her contagious smile and one-in-a-million personality.' 

Brungardt was a member of the Colby Community College Rodeo Team
She competed in goat tying, breakaway and team roping with the rodeo team

'She was simply incredibly,' one person commented on that Facebook post. 'In all ways imaginable, especially in being a cowgirl.'

Another person said, 'Emma was amazing!!! She was a fantastic representative of [Miss Rodeo Kansas] when I got to be with her at the Flint Hills Rodeo in Strong City.

'Her poise, personality and horsemanship were impeccable! She was so kind and gracious to young and old alike.'

The Miss Rodeo Kansas Pageant called the 19-year-old a 'true gem and horse woman who embodied what it meant to be a rodeo queen, always going above and beyond what was expected of her'

Brungardt, a sophomore at Colby County Community College, competed in goat tying, breakaway and team roping with the college's rodeo team.

She studied equine management and production, according to KAKE, and attended the college on scholarship. 

'As a first-generation cowgirl, Emma has immersed herself in the western way of life, becoming involved in [Future Farmers of America] in high school, and coming in the Kansas Wild Horse Youth Challenge for four years, winning grand champion in 2019 and 2021,' her profile on Miss Rodeo Kansas says.

'She competed in the Kansas High School Rodeo Association for two years,' it adds.

A candlelight vigil will be held in her memory Sunday night.