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The State Fair's Urban Cowboy Competes At The Fair & On The Court

FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (WCCO) -- Cattle competitions got underway Friday in the Coliseum. 4-Hers spend hours prepping their animals, not only here, but over the summer months.

Max Bjorklund doesn't have the traditional 4-H story.  Max Bjorklund doesn't have the traditional 4-H story.   You could call him a city kid who just happens to have a love of cows.

Preparation is often the key to winning any contest. For Max Bjorklund, success is also about teamwork.

"All us cousins help each other," Bjorklund said.

He's helping his cousins get ready for the 4-H competition.

Max may be willing to lend a hand, but make no mistake -- he wants to improve on last year's reserve champion finish.

"My calf last year had really good hair," he said. "I call it Robin because I took a cow last year and I named it Batman and they're brother and sister."

It's why he spent the morning prepping Robin for a win.

Max knows how to handle the pressure of competition. He carried his team to the section finals as Orono's starting point guard.

"Every single time someone finds out they're always super surprised," he said.

Every summer he juggles the demands of an elite high school athlete, yet the farm keeps pulling him back.

"He had about 45-50 AAU games this summer too, so getting up there and working with his calf wasn't easy," Marc Bjorklund said.

That passion for 4-H goes back to kindergarten, making the final year of competition so significant even his teammates showed their supoprt.

It didn't end how he hoped, a fourth place finish.

Max didn't stay with it to just win ribbons, rather follow a lifelong passion.

"It's a lot of work so I'll miss it and not miss it at same time," he said.

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