Scott Abrahamson: a scholar and a daredevil

When his head isn't buried in an engineering textbook, Scott Abrahamson spends his time jumping from one bareback horse to another in races.

The 2016 Lake Roosevelt salutatorian, Abrahamson continues to excel at academics, pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at Eastern Washington University, where he recently pulled a 3.8 grade-point average.

"All through school, he was pulling 4.0s," his mother, Gina Palmer said. "He's always been super smart. He was in the advanced classes."

Abrahamson grew up in Coulee Dam and attended school in the Grand Coulee Dam School District all his life.

In addition to an impressive academic record, Abrahamson is also excelling at riding horses, winning his fourth Suicide Race in a row this year at the Omak Stampede and also competing in Indian relay racing, a passion that developed out of a desire to honor his father and grandmother.

"Horses keep you busy," Abrahamson said. "It keeps people out of trouble."

"He's been on a horse since he was 3," Palmer said.

When he was about 12, Abrahamson started racing horses around the Colville Indian Reservation, and people started asking him to do hill races.

"He was 14 years old and won the Wellpinit Warrior race," Palmer said. "From there, he's been going on and on. I made him promise to me when he was doing all this stuff to keep his grades up and go to college, otherwise I was going to pull him. He's great at what he does."

Abrahamson said he owns six horses that are at home in Coulee Dam, or kept in Omak.

Indian relay racing is a unique, dangerous sport, in which a rider quickly moves from one horse, to another, to another, riding each a length of the track. The rider is joined by a team to help with transitioning from horse to horse.

Abrahamson's team includes catcher Mathew Pakootas, holder Jonathan Abrahamson, and out-holder Beaudeen Adolph.

Abrahamson has excelled at the races, winning the 2017 national championship event in Billings, Montana last year.

In June, Abrahamson won at Emerald Downs at the Muckleshoot Gold Cup, where a video of his performance will be included in the online version of this article. Abrahamson took home a $10,000 check and a trophy from the event.

This month, Abrahamson won in Pendleton, Oregon, where prizes include buckles, coats, blankets, and cash, before going to the national championship in Walla Walla, Washington, last weekend.

In Walla Walla, where 38 teams were competing, Abrahamson took first in the first round on Friday, second in the second round on Saturday, and, qualifying for the championship round on Sunday, took fifth after falling behind a few places due to a rough transition on the last exchange.

The daredevil activity makes his mother nervous "every time he races," Palmer said. "I'm super proud, he's amazing! Going to school full time, going around horse racing, winning these huge races."

Leroy Abrahamson, Scott's father, used to compete in the Indian relay races himself.

"The only reason I started racing is to honor my grandmother [Sue Palmer] and dad that passed on, so I hope to honor them," Scott Abrahamson said. "Thanks to everyone that helped me out on my way up."