Rodeo Queen

Lacey Bainbridge is a 20-year-old resident of Valley Center. Lacey has been riding horses since she could walk and grew up on horseback, completing numerous 50- to 100-mile endurance rides by age 8. She earned the 2013 National Junior Mileage Champion title for the American Endurance Ride Conference.

She is no stranger to the pageant world either. Lacey has held several titles in California, including the 2014 Valley Center Stampede Rodeo Young Miss and 2016 & 2017 Poway Rodeo Jr. Queen. She has held scholarship pageant titles, such as 2019 Jr. Miss Valley Center, 2020 Miss Valley Center 1st Princess, and 2021 Miss Valley Center Teen USA.

Lacey is a lifelong softball player. She was recruited to play D1 in college, where she attended Dallas Christian College in Texas her freshman year on a full ride. 

She is presently attending National University, working towards getting her degree in Education. She will use this degree to become a teacher to help the next generation. She fosters this love of inspiring youth through her platform of “The Buck Starts Here” by volunteering with Sam’s Posse, coaching rodeo queen pageant contestants, and tutoring. “The Buck Starts Here” platform embodies her wishes to spark the love of rodeo, agriculture, and the western way of life through proper education on the subjects and leading by example.

Lacey is also an optician and office manager for Valley Center Optometry. In her free time, she enjoys riding her two horses, Scarlett and Ruby, as well as going to the desert with her family.

It has been an absolute honor to represent the Poway Rodeo and community for another year as the 2025 Poway Rodeo Queen.

She would like to thank her sponsors of Dental Sense Poway for keeping her smile healthy and queen ready, as well as DeLauder Refrigeration for her travel fund to represent Poway Rodeo at events around California and Arizona.

Junior Queen

Stella Erb is thrilled to spend another year with Poway Rodeo as their 2025 Junior Queen. She is 16 years old and is an honor roll student at El Capitan High School. From carrying flags, to roping and barrel racing, Stella is passionate about representing rodeo. She is currently a member of the California Junior Rodeo Association, competing in multiple events, and her all time favorite event is team roping. Stella’s life revolves around rodeo, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Her favorite part about being a rodeo queen is educating and sharing the cowboy way of life with others, inside and out of the arena.

She would like to thank her sponsor, Black Wolff Leather, for helping her look her best in and out of the rodeo arena.