As young princess contestants fidgeted nervously around her in the rodeo arena, a wave of relief washed over 19-year-old Brittany Schock.

No matter who won the pageant, she thought, at least the judging was over.

"You work so hard," Schock said. "You don't just need to sit up on your horse and look good."

The 2009 Miss Rodeo Mandan Queen and Princess Pageant ended Saturday night at Dacotah Centennial Park with the crowning and victory laps of Princess Libby Bateman, 11, and Schock, the new queen.

Schock and Bateman both received appearance and personality awards. Winning two of three categories secured their crowns.

"I was shaking," Bateman said, recalling the moment she pinned on her sash.

The third category with weight in the pageant is horsemanship. Queen runner-up Bailey Kahl, 19, won the horsemanship award. Among princess contestants, first runner-up Cara Jo Hilzendeger, 11, won the horsemanship contest.

Pageant contestants voted to give Kahl and princess contestant Josie Hettich, 12, congeniality awards. Congeniality is not considered in the tally for pageant titles.

Cowgirl pageants present a special challenge to rodeo veterans who are used to the clock's judgment.

"It's different from a timed event," Schock said. "That's the stop clock. This is the judges' personal opinions."

Judges watched contestants beginning at a Thursday luncheon with modeling and interviewing up until the grand entry to the rodeo Saturday night.

In between, the girls and women performed horse routines for judges, waved from a float in Mandan's July 4 parade and opened the rodeo each evening.

Contestants coordinated outfits, wrote speeches and trained their horses for weeks in preparation.

In the next year, Schock and Bateman will travel together to attend and promote rodeos.

Schock will compete in the Miss Rodeo North Dakota Pageant in October.