Jonnie Jonckowski.
It’s a name every sports fan should know. Yet, when asked today, most would respond, “Who’s he?”
First, he is a she. Those on the road with Jonnie more than 30 years ago hitting bull riding jackpots and rodeo invitationals and anywhere else offering a chance to earn a few bucks hanging onto bucking animals who don’t recognize personal pronouns will surely attest to that.
Jonnie Jonckowski. The name is bigger than rodeo. Or at least it should be.
Jonnie Jonckowski was the first woman to compete against men at the top level in professional bull riding, riding in the men’s bull riding World Championship at the Justin World Bull Riding Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1992. She was invited among an international contingent, considered one of the world’s top 30 bull riders.
Before competing in the world’s most dangerous organized sport, Jonckowski had been an accomplished track and field athlete. She was born in Fargo, North Dakota, in July 1954, so much as she burst into the world revving to make a mark. Early on she was an incorrigible tomboy withering to no challenge. She wanted to be first, the best, the highest, the strongest. The rougher the horseplay, the better. Jonnie’s mom made her wear jeans because she kept tearing up her dresses.
Rambunctious little Jonnie didn’t stay small. In high school, she shot up 9 inches to a lanky 5 foot 8 and began winning track and field events. With “the Olympics on my brain,” she was second in the country running for Flathead Valley
