IRON RIVER – An Escanaba teen took home the crown as Miss U.P. Rodeo Queen earlier this month at the 49th annual U.P. Championship Rodeo at the Iron County Fairgrounds.

The two days of rodeo activities concluded July 16 with a pair of Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association performances and the crowning of the new rodeo queen.

Bailey Manninen, 19, of Escanaba took home the crown and a $1,000 scholarship in the Miss U.P. Rodeo Queen pageant. In addition, 15-year-old Grace Lundberg of Ontonagon was crowned as the first ever Miss U.P. Rodeo Princess.

Manninen said “everything about performing is exciting,” and she “can’t stay away from rodeo queen pageants.”

The new rodeo queen won awards in the 2015 pageant as well and has attended the U.P. Championship Rodeo for the past 15 years.

She looks forward to representing the rodeo and helping to spread word of the event to “everyone in the U.P.”

Clara Churchill of Gwinn, the outgoing Miss U.P. Rodeo Queen, has spent the past year promoting rodeo and the Upper Peninsula.

The other queen contestants were Emilie Christensen of Iron River and Shania Tebo of Daggett. The other princess contestants were Marjia Cornelia of Alpha, Keilyn Dye-Giuliani of Iron River and Alexis Mayers of Gladstone.