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  • ProFile: Quincy Segelke

    ProFile: Quincy Segelke

    story by Jaicee Williams

    A Snyder, Colo. native, Quincy Segelke, has had a college career full of leadership positions in the world of college rodeo. Quincy is currently the student president of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) and has served as a regional director for the Central Rocky Mountain region for the past three years. As a graduating senior at Chadron State College, Quincy took a moment to reflect on her time as the NIRA student president this past year. “[Being the NIRA student president has] definitely taught me a whole different perspective on rodeo. Mostly on the business side of things,” explains Quincy. By serving as the student president, Quincy has gotten to meet individuals from all over the country and even got the chance to travel to Las Vegas, Nev.
    Although she played a large role in the association, Quincy remembered to stay focused on school in conjunction with rodeo. Quincy describes a “go with the flow” mentality that she learned to master with all her involvements. Time management was a skill that Quincy had at the top of her list to conquer. “I was an online student…balancing my time between school and rodeo was definitely a big thing that I needed to learn,” Quincy adds. As a regional director, Quincy was in charge of different aspects of the regional rodeos such as bringing national sponsor banners and flags to each rodeo and attending meetings to help make decisions that were important for the region.
    Once she found a balance between remote schooling, her leadership positions, and rodeo, Quincy was able to finish her rodeo career at Chadron State College on a high note by qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in three events. She placed second in the region in the breakaway roping and third in the goat tying. Quincy also earned the Reserve All-Around title for the Central Rocky Mountain region and picked up barrel racing at the CNFR as her extra event.
    Rodeo has been a long-time family tradition for Quincy’s family. Her parents, Vickie and Tim, and grandfather, Francis, helped start her and her siblings in the sport at a young age. Francis and Tim both competed in steer wrestling and Tim earned the national title in the bulldogging at the National High School Finals Rodeo in Rapid City, S.D. in 1985. Tim continued on after high school and qualified for the NFR in steer wrestling in 1990 and 1998. Quincy’s mother, Vickie, competed in barrel racing, goat tying, and breakaway roping in college and has continued to raise futurity horses into the present. Quincy and her siblings all started rodeoing while living in Colorado, competing in the Colorado Junior Rodeo Association. The family also traveled all over the nation to major youth rodeos and barrel futurities.
    From her time in college rodeo, Quincy claims that her favorite part has been the friendships that she’s made. “That’s probably the best part of it…just the community we have of young kids,” Quincy says. Quincy has been a social butterfly since a young age. Throughout her years of rodeo, Quincy has made friends all over the country while competing in rodeos such as the International Youth Finals Rodeo and Roy Cooper’s Junior World Champion Calf Roping and Breakaway.
    Quincy is now a graduate from Chadron State College, but she has recently decided to pursue a master’s degree. “I am wanting to attend a program at the University of Wyoming for a master’s of business, science, and finance,” Quincy elaborates. While serving on the NIRA board, she discovered the importance of a master’s degree while they interviewed for a new commissioner which helped her decide to pursue the degree.

     

  • God’s Love is for Everyone

    God’s Love is for Everyone

    God’s love is for everyone! He doesn’t pick certain people to love more than others. He doesn’t pick people who have done better deeds and sinned less to love more. He is just in every situation. He loves every single person, even those who aren’t born yet. God loves us so much that he sent Jesus, his own son, to be sacrificed for our sins. All those years ago, he still chose us. Nothing we do can earn this gift. It is the free gift from God, for all who call on his name. The significance of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is often overlooked. The easiness of being forgiven is often looked at as “to good to be true”. But it is true. It is that easy. No gimmicks. Ask for forgiveness and you will receive it. Anyone, anytime, anywhere, it is available because of what Jesus did for us.
    “Why then, does it look like God love’s others more than me?” you might ask. Or “God won’t love me because I don’t go to church or read a bible.” While we should fellowship with other Christian believers and we should spend more time in God’s word and prayer, it doesn’t make God love us more or less. Why do they have a fancier house and faster car than me? Why does she get splendid gifts from her husband, and all I get are messes to clean up, laundry to do, and a lazy slob that doesn’t help do the dishes? Why did my dad get terminal cancer, and theirs lived a full life with no health problems? Why did he get that promotion at work and I didn’t? Why does she get that new barrel horse and I don’t? Why did my house burn down? Why did my marriage end in divorce? Why was my car crash fatal, but the drunk driver’s crash ended in mere scrapes and bruises? Why did my horse wreck lead to paralysis but his didn’t? The list can go on and on. The truth is these things happen. Other people’s blessings might make it seem like God loves them more than you. Or worse yet, your struggles and hardships might make it seem like God has abandoned you and doesn’t love you at all. This could not be farther from the truth!
    Scriptures tell us “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9. The fact of life is, on this earth we are going to go through some things. Storms are going to come and rattle our lives. We are going to face hardships and struggles. But God’s ears are ready to hear our cry. His arms are open ready to hold us when we run his way. No struggle, hardship, or sin will ever keep God from loving us or holding his forgiveness back from us. If God is for us, who can ever be against us? (Romans 8:31)
    “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? As the scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39.
    Adam and Eve, while in the Garden of Eden, made a choice to disobey God. The result of that choice was death. They were tempted and fell into the sin which lead to death for all humans. All our lives end in death because of the choice they made thousands of years ago. God’s creation of mankind became so corrupt that he sent a flood to wipe out the race and begin again by saving Noah and his family on the ark with the animals. After Noah, as the earth began to fill up with people again, God called Abram later known as Abraham, away from his homeland. God told Abraham to leave his native country and to go to the promised land. So, he began on his way. Humans remained human and still made unrighteous decisions leading them to Egypt where they became slaves. Then, came Moses, a Hebrew boy raised in the Pharaoh’s house by Pharaoh’s daughter. Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt. With over a million people following him and God leading them, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt towards the land God promised to his people.
    While traveling towards the promised land, the people questioned Moses. They acted against God and did what was right in their own sight. God gave Moses precise instructions on the rules to give to the people. God used Moses to give the standard to live by. What we know as “The Law” came during that time. It was God’s law, Moses gave to the people, which made them righteous in God’s sight. Don’t kill, don’t steal, don’t murder, respect your parents, clear down to what to do if someone is accidentally killed in a work accident. Moses governed the people with God’s own law. God created humans in his own image when he created Adam and Eve and he was happy with his creation. He wants all mankind to be saved and to go to heaven. Our human nature, the nature to do what is wrong instead of right, our sinful nature, is what the “The Law” saved us from. The law was God’s way for us to live by that kept humans righteous and gave them eternity with God. By offering burnt offerings to the Lord, humans were made right for their wrong doings. While Moses led God’s chosen people, they rebelled, they whined, and wanted to go back to Egypt. Even after all that God had done for them, all he had led them through, and all he promised them, they still disobeyed God and did what was wrong.
    After Moses, came years and years of leaders, judges, and kings that ruled God’s chosen people. A lot of the leaders wanted to do right by God’s standard. Some of them didn’t care and led the people farther in sin and the worshipping of other gods and idols. For years and years, we failed! For over a thousand years we couldn’t do it. We fell short. We couldn’t live up to the standard that God had laid in front of them. So, instead of giving up on us. Instead of starting over. God sent Jesus. His own son. Born of the virgin Mary. As the perfect example and eternal sacrifice. Once and for all the problem was taken care of. God sent his very own sacrifice, as the eternal blood offering, for our forgiveness. Jesus’ blood covers our sins against God! And it is not by obeying the law that we are saved, but rather believing that Jesus came as our savior. It is not earned. We do not deserve it, yet God did it anyways. John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.”
    Romans 3:28 “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.” This doesn’t mean we should go and live destructive sinful lives. But what it does mean is that we can come as we are, broken, sinful, and shamed. No matter what we have done in the past. No matter how big of a sin we have committed. We can come to God in prayer and ask for forgiveness and it will be granted. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” Romans 8:23. But, because of Jesus we are forgiven!
    So, no matter what struggle you are in. No matter what storm has come your way. No matter what mountain you face. No matter what heartbreak you have. No matter what sin you have committed. No matter what your past looks like. All we must do is have faith and believe Jesus came, died, and rose again. Ask for forgiveness, and we will be forgiven and spend eternity in heaven.
    Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” You will be SAVED!!
    Saved from heartache, sin, depression, shortcomings, failure, poverty, depression. ALL OF IT! We are saved from it all. Every single one of us has this opportunity. God wants us to accept his gift, his salvation, his grace and mercy. He wants to give it to us for free. All we must do is accept the gift, say it with our mouth, and believe it with our heart and we will receive. So, no matter what obstacle you face. No matter what struggle you are in. No matter how far away from God, you think you are. No matter if you think they are more loved than you. All you have to do, is turn to God, talk to him, tell him what you need, and thank him for all he has done. You are loved and he wants to bless you!
    “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23
    “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

  • Back When They Bucked with Sherry Price Johnson

    Back When They Bucked with Sherry Price Johnson

    As a young girl, Sherry Price Combs Johnson spent her days on horseback, riding bareback, playing “cowboys and Indians” or “bad guys,” with her bb gun on her family’s ranch near Addington, Oklahoma.
    Little did she know the hours spent on horseback would spill over into thousands of hours in her adult life, on horses in rodeo arenas around the nation.
    The second and last daughter of John Henry and Lena Price, she was born four years after her sister, Florence Price Youree, in 1938.
    The girls were their dad’s right hand men, helping him around the ranch. “It was expected,” Sherry remembers, of helping her dad. He also demanded that his girls do the job right. “He expected us to do it correctly, and if he ever told you something once, you were to remember it.” When they cut cattle out of the herd, he wouldn’t always tell his girls what he was cutting out, “because the first one that was cut out, you were supposed to know by then what was supposed to be cut,” Sherry remembered.
    By the time she was fourteen, she was rodeoing in the American Junior Rodeo Association, traveling with Florence and her husband Dale. The girls rode the same horse, with Dale changing saddles for them. Sherry would ask to be up last; Florence would run, Dale would switch out saddles, and Sherry would compete.
    In the AJRA, Sherry won five barrel racing championships and two all-arounds, competing not only in the barrels but in the pole bending and flag race.
    In high school rodeo in 1955, she won enough points for Oklahoma that they won the national title that year. Sherry won the barrels, the breakaway roping and placed second in the poles to win the all-around on a mare named Pokey.

    She remembers that her grandfather, an old-time rancher, did not approve of mares being used on the ranch. “In his day,” she said, “they sold the mares and kept the geldings for ranch horses.” But she fell in love with a pretty little flax maned mare, and told her daddy she wanted that colt. He told her to ask “Big Tree,” her grandfather’s nickname. “I was scared to death,” to ask, she said. But he agreed. “I was the first one allowed a mare on the place. It was such a big deal for me to get her.” Her mare’s name was Pokey, and that horse carried Sherry to her junior and high school rodeo wins, and her daughter Becky later on.
    Her dad might have been the prince in Sherry’s life, but her mom was the queen. In addition to her sister, her mom also hauled her to rodeos across the country, doing all the driving before Sherry was 16. “My mother hauled me all over the world. Daddy saw that the car and trailer were ready, and mother took me.”
    Her mother was made of steel, but a sweetheart. “Mother was the sweetest person in the world,” Sherry said. “She never raised her voice. She could sit down and talk to you, and it was worse than a spanking. You were sorry if you had messed up.” Lena raised her daughters to be ladies. “She told me, you can do or be anything you want to be, but you will be a lady, doing it. How many times have I thought of that memory?” Sherry reminisced.
    After high school graduation in 1956, she headed to Oklahoma State. She competed in one college rodeo, piling into a car with a bunch of other girls and two horses. They headed to Austin, Texas, where she placed in the barrels.
    It wasn’t convenient for her to keep a horse in Stillwater, so she didn’t. “I was in a sorority and I was busy being a girl,” she said.
    After one year of college, she met the 1955 world champion steer wrestler Benny Combs and married him in 1957. He was rodeoing and she had a condition for their marriage: that she would rodeo with him. At the time, women didn’t travel with their husbands. He concurred, and they traveled together, making Checotah, Oklahoma their home base.
    It was while married to Benny that Sherry rode a PRCA Hall of Fame horse and one that carried her to a world title.
    Benny and Willard Combs, his brother, bought a horse from the same fellow who had sold the famed steer wrestling mount Baby Doll to the brothers. They bought Star Plaudit, “Red,” for $400, training him in the steer wrestling. When Red was done with his dogging practice, Sherry would work him. He just didn’t train well, she said. “His feet were in the wrong place and he was just clumsy as all get out.”
    Sherry had no other mount, so she planned on riding him in Denver. It was the wildest run of her life, she said. The barrels always followed the steer wrestling, so when the steer wrestling was over, they changed saddles and Sherry got on him. “Red came flying out of that alley, and I knew what run was, right then,” she said. “I just picked him up on the right, he saw that barrel, and turned.”
    Red won Denver for Bob Maynard, who also rode him in Ft. Worth, as did other bulldoggers. When Bob paid his mount money to Benny, Sherry remembers that he pulled out a $1000 bill, which seemed like all the money in the world. Red was a good financial investment for Benny and Sherry. “With me running barrels, Benny bulldogging, and the mount money, we had a three-way shot (at earning), which was good.”
    It wasn’t long and Benny and Sherry bought Willard’s half of Red and owned him outright.
    Oftentimes the bulldoggers would gather at the arena fence during the barrel racing, to see what their bulldogging horse was doing, “if I was messing him up,” she said. “And I took care of him. It was my pleasure.” Red preferred women over men, especially Sherry. Benny couldn’t catch him; he’d always ask her to do it. And Sherry recalls a time at Ft. Worth when she asked sister Florence to feed him. Florence stepped in the stall, left the stall door open, put the hay down and Red “politely booted her out of the stall. He didn’t kick her or it would have hurt. He just booted her out. My space,” he was telling her.
    Red, inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017, holds a record that probably won’t ever be duplicated. In 1962, he won two world titles (and helped with a third) for his riders: Sherry as world champion barrel racer, and family friend Tom Nesmith as world champion steer wrestler and all-around champ.
    Sherry, the 1962 world champion, had twelve qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, the most of any cowgirl till Charmayne James came along. She has the distinction of qualifying for the WPRA’s barrel racing world championships in six of the seven cities in which it has been held. Her first qualification was in 1959, at Clayton, New Mexico. She also qualified when it was held in Scottsdale (1960), Santa Maria, Calif. (1961), Ft. Worth (1962-66), and when it was included with the PRCA’s world championship in Oklahoma City (’67-68, 70); and in Las Vegas, her last year to compete (1991). The only location she didn’t compete at was in Arlington, Texas last year. She didn’t compete every year she qualified; sometimes the added money was too low to justify traveling so far.
    And barrel racing wasn’t her only rodeo activity. She was part of the group of women with the Girls Rodeo Association (forerunner to the Women’s Pro Rodeo Association) that re-wrote part of the rulebook and asked for ten percent of purse money. At the time, in the early 1960s, committees did not provide equal purse money in the barrel racing. Ten percent “was not equal money but it was a start,” she said.

    She and Benny had a daughter, Becky, in 1958. About ten years later, she and Becky moved back to Addington. A house next door to John Henry and Lena was for rent, and Sherry began working for her dad. She would drop Becky off at school, and go to work, with Lena picking up Becky after school and helping with homework.
    It was while in Addington that Sherry connected with her high school sweetheart, Sid Johnson. Sid had lent her $10 to become a GRA member at a rodeo years before, and the two had gone to prom together in high school. After talking on the phone and seeing each other long distance, one day Sid was in Addington. The couple had obtained a marriage license and had planned on marrying, just hadn’t chosen a date. One day Sherry said, “let’s get married. My hair looks good,” she laughed. He replied, “Ok, that’s fine with me.” Sherry called Florence, asking her and Dale to stand up for them. Florence replied, “I’m cooking fish,” to which Sherry said, “cook faster.” The preacher agreed to marry them, if they would help him set up chairs for the next day’s speaker.
    “It wasn’t romantic, and I don’t think anybody took pictures, but my hair looked good,” she laughed.
    They were married in 1980, until Sid’s death in 2007. “It was the best 28 years of my life. We never argued.”
    They lived near Snyder, Texas, until Sid was diagnosed with cancer. He was always looking out for his bride; he insisted they move back to Addington after his diagnosis, so she would be near her sister after his passing. She refused to take him from his home, saying it was her home, too. He told her, “I’ll be packed and gone so you can decide if you’re going to follow me or not.”
    Now she and Florence live three miles apart as the crow flies, and talk several times a day. Daughter Becky Bradley lives with Sherry and together they manage the ranch. Sherry doesn’t ride anymore; her back won’t allow it. But she still loves her horses.
    Sherry was the 1961 WPRA all-around champ, competing in the barrels on Red, and doing the flag race, breakaway and cutting. In 1997, she was the WPRA’s Coca-Cola Woman of the Year. In 2005, she was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy and Western Heritage Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Five years later, she was inducted into the Pecos (Texas) Rodeo Hall of Fame, and in 2015, she was the RAM Prairie Circuit Living Legend winner. The next year, she and Red were inducted into the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame. She helped design a Sherry Combs saddle, as well, benefitting from its sales.
    “She could outride me,” Florence said. “She was a natural on a horse, and that’s what my daddy and husband thought. She was a hand.”
    She is grateful for the good horses that have been in her life. “I have been blessed with so many good horses, and I thank God for that,” she said. “I tried to take care of them like He would want me to.”
    She loved working with horses; it was her life. “Riding and training was never a job for me. It was something I liked to do. I just plain loved to ride, all my life. Riding was my passion, and when you can make a living at what you love, you’re blessed.”

  • On The Trail with Jim Boy Hash

    On The Trail with Jim Boy Hash

    The Hash family refers to themselves as weekend warriors on the rodeo trail. But Jim Boy, his wife Jessica, and their teenage sons Jaylyn and Jaytyn, are one of the driving forces behind the rodeo world in the Midwest. Through coaching, competing, training horses, raising goats and WNFR-bound broncs, and driving hundreds of miles a year, they give back to the sport that has given them a lifestyle they love.

    Kendall, Kansas, is home base for the Hash family, but they are equally at home at NIRA, KPRA, and NLBRA rodeos. Jessica’s grandparents, Otis and Shirley Jennings, started J&J Rodeo Company in 1978, and Jessica and her three younger brothers grew up helping fill any need at the KPRA, Little Britches, high school, and ranch rodeos their family produced. “My mom was in charge of cooking the meals and taking care of the kiddos,” says Jessica. “My brothers and I did a lot of the preparing the cattle beforehand. When Granddad got a new set of cattle, we’d track them through and rope them.” Jessica competed in the NLBRA in all the girl’s events and though she jokes she was primarily added money for the other goat tyers, she excelled in trail course and breakaway roping on a horse her grandpa purchased as a bucking horse. She and Jim Boy met through Little Britches and saw more of each other at KPRA, amateur, and college rodeos, where they started dating. “I went to Colby for my first two years of college and then followed my boyfriend to Panhandle State. Our joke is that Jim Boy was from Texas, so I thought he had money.”

     

    Jim Boy grew up in Canadian, Texas, and went to the Texas High School State Finals in steer wrestling and saddle bronc riding. He competed in the NHSFR in steer wrestling in 1990, and began his college rodeo career at Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, that fall. Afterward, he transferred to Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell, where he won the steer wrestling in the Central Plains region in 1993 and 1994, and qualified for the CNFR from 1993—1995. His team finished second in the nation in 1993 and third in the nation in 1994. Jim Boy also competed on the PRCA Prairie Circuit, and he was asked by his rodeo coach at OPSU, Dr. R. Lynn “Doc” Gardner, to stay on as the assistant coach after Jim Boy graduated in 1995. When Doc passed away in 1996, Jim Boy took the assistant coach position at Cochise College in Douglas, Arizona, where the women’s team qualified for the CNFR in 1997.

    Jim Boy packed his bags again, this time bound for Garden City Community College in Garden City, Kansas, in 1998. He started as the assistant coach and has remained there since, becoming the head coach in 2003. Covid shut down most of their season in 2020 and Jim Boy took the opportunity to spend more time with his family. There are 11 students on his team this season and he’s excited about some new changes at GCCC. “This will be huge for us—we are revamping our stalls and can accommodate more horses, and increasing our scholarship budget. We have a few more kids lined up for next year and that will be a huge bonus to us.”

    “He cares a lot for the kids,” adds Brock Baker, the assistant rodeo coach at GCCC since 2008. “It’s important to Jim Boy to have good kids and for them to take care of business and get through school, and to leave a better person than they came. That’s something he’s always cared about is that they get a good start in life. Rodeo is important but life is more important.” Several GCCC alumni that Jim Boy coached have gone on to the WNFR, including Emily Miller, Cort Scheer, and Casey Colletti. “From Garden City, those kids have gone on to every major university,” says Bronc Rumford, the head rodeo coach at Fort Hays State University. “Jim Boy’s touched a big part of the rodeo world during his career. He does the bucking horses as a hobby and he’s raised some NFR horses. He’s had his hand in all aspects of the rodeo world. Anybody knows that when you go to a rodeo that has his goats, there’s going to be an even pen.”

    Jim Boy’s oldest son, Jaylyn (19), joined the Broncbuster nation at GCCC this rodeo season as a freshman, competing in steer wrestling, team roping, and tie-down roping. “I’m used to my dad being at practices because he was always at the house with us,” says Jaylyn. “He’s been pretty patient with me and wants me to live like a college student athlete on the rodeo team.” Jim Boy even invested in some property near the college recently, which has several barns, stalls, and runs. Jaylyn is staying there with his horses, camping in his grandma’s trailer. Rodeoing and his recent trip to the 2021 Cinch Jr. Ironman keep him on the road most weekends, however.

     

    It was Jaylyn’s first time to be invited to the Jr. Ironman, where he ultimately finished as the reserve champion by .8 seconds. He competed with nine other contestants in three rounds of steer wrestling, tie-down roping, heading, and heeling. Jaylyn felt his runs met with varying degrees of success—he tied for first place in the third round of tie-down roping with an 11.1 after switching horses—and went into the final day aiming for second place. “I was trying to do the math in my head and saw that Briar (Teague) was five seconds ahead. After the bulldogging I was too long, but I never would’ve known I’d come so close to winning by .8 seconds.” Jaylyn’s 22-year-old steer wrestling horse, Cooper, also won the Lone Star Ropes Top Horse Award during the event. “My girlfriend’s family came down, and I hung out with my team roping partner, Jordan Lovins. That was the first time we roped together, and he was great. My dad, brother, mom, and uncle Daylin came and watched, and my other family watched it on the Cowboy Channel.”

    Jaylyn went to his second college rodeo in Fort Scott, Kansas, immediately following the Jr. Ironman, and by his third rodeo in Durant, Oklahoma, accomplished one of his goals by making the short round in steer wrestling. “The very first goal I set was to at least make one short round my freshman year. Another goal was to beat my dad, who made it to his first short round in his fourth college rodeo. I made it to my first short round at my third rodeo.”
    Along with college rodeo, Jaylyn is competing in his last year of Little Britches and plans to enter KPRA rodeos. He’s also pursuing a career of more guaranteed money in bullfighting, which he started working as a freshman in high school, taking after several of his uncles. Jaylyn works for his family’s J&J Rodeo Company and Medicine River Rodeo Company, working about 20 rodeos a summer. In 2020, he was awarded KPRA Bullfighter of the Year. “That’s where my heart is now. Ever since me and my brother were young, we’d go to Tractor Supply and buy bulls and horses and toy semitrucks, and we’d put marks on them and pretend we were stock contractors. We would like to do that someday; we’ll see what happens. I’m going to major in athletic training. Once I’m retired from bullfighting, if I want another job, I can go into the Justin Sports Medicine and stay around rodeo.”

    “I’m very thankful my boys rodeo,” says Jessica. “I feel like kids learn so much responsibility and gain so many friendships. They learn to be patient and how to be a caregiver to their animals, or a teacher. When we first started this venture of children, Jaylyn did not want to ride horses or rodeo. We decided then as parents we need to support them in whatever they love to do. Jaytyn on the other hand had a rope in his car seat at all times—that was his binky. Rodeo was it from the beginning for him.”

    Jaytyn (15) is a freshman, competing in KHSRA, Little Britches, and the Young Guns Timed Event series. He does tie-down roping and ribbon roping, while team roping is his favorite. “My brother is really pushing for me to steer wrestle,” Jaytyn adds. Like his older brother, he plays basketball, football, and baseball in high school. He took a break from basketball this year and enjoyed roping at the college with his dad’s team and helping pick up broncs. Jaytyn likes to train horses, and says he noticed horse prices were on the rise and decided to start training horses, selling them to make money for college and the jackpots he wants to enter. One of his current project horses is part Arabian. “Somebody just dropped him

  • 2021 CNFR competition kicks off with Bulls Broncs & Breakaway

    2021 CNFR competition kicks off with Bulls Broncs & Breakaway

    CASPER, Wyo. (June 13, 2021) — After two years of ups and downs, the 72nd edition of the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) got off to a rousing start at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.

    Last year’s events were cancelled due to the pandemic and this year contestants, fans, coaches, the state of Wyoming and Casper community are all excited to be celebrating college rodeo again. The competition started off with the Bulls Broncs and Breakaway Sunday afternoon which saw the first round complete in four events.

    The first round of bareback riding featured some of the best that the CNFR has ever seen. Cole Franks from Clarendon (Texas) College won his signature event with a score of 83.5 points. Franks is also in the top 20 in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association and won the Southwest Region of the National Intercollegiate Association. He is making a bid for the all-around here competing in the saddle bronc riding as well where he got 73.5 points to finish in the 11th spot.

    – Sophomore Cole Franks from Clarendon College won the first round of bareback riding at the 72nd CNFR on Sunday with an 83.5-point ride. CNFR photo by Jackie Jensen.

    Franks is the son of Bret Franks who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in saddle bronc riding. Franks has been coaching at Clarendon College and has had two national saddle bronc riding champions to his credit. Wyatt Casper won the CNFR in 2016 and Riggin Smith was the 2019 champion and helped their men’s team finish in third place.

    There were only six points separating the top eight in the bareback riding and among those was champion Lane McGeHee from Sam Houston State University who won the title here in 2016 as a freshman. McGeHee tied with Ty Pope from Missouri Valley College for the fourth spot with 80 points each.

    The popularity of breakaway roping has always been high here, but with the addition of the event at pro rodeos across the country competition is getting tougher. A time under two seconds got the top spot on Sunday. Winter Williams from Southwestern Oklahoma State University stopped the clock in 1.9 seconds for the win.

    Williams just earned her degree in allied health sciences and is also competing in the barrel racing here. She will have her first run in that event on Monday morning during slack and will be in contention for a women’s all-around title.

    Another degree earning senior got the win in the saddle bronc riding and while he calls Craig, Colorado home, he is a Wyoming Cowboy. Garrett Uptain, who got his bachelor’s degree in ag business from the University of Wyoming scored 79.5 points to edge out Clarendon College’s Weston Patterson and Western Texas College’s Dylan Schofield who each had 79 points for second place.

    The 2018 National High School Rodeo Association champion bull rider Cole Skender was the most successful contestant here in the first round. Skender, who won his high school title for his home state of Arkansas now attends Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Missouri. He was one of seven successful riders on Sunday and earned the top spot with a 84.5-point ride.

    Competition at the 2021 CNFR continues with slack on Monday, June 14 beginning at 7 a.m. The first round of barrel racing, goat tying, steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping will be completed then. The bareback riding, saddle bronc riding, bull riding and breakaway roping will be in the second round.

     

    ###

     

    CASPER, Wyo.—The following are results from Bulls Broncs and Breakaway at the College National Finals Rodeo, June 13, 2021, courtesy of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. Complete results are available at www.collegerodeo.com.

     

    Breakaway Roping: (first-round winners) 1, Winter Williams, Southwest Oklahoma State University, 1.9 seconds. 2, (tie) Grace Felton, Lassen College, and Zoie Bedke, Idaho State University, 2.1. 4, Harley Lynn, Southern Arkansas University, 2.2. 5, Abbie Shofner, New Mexico State University, 2.3. 6, Alli Masters, Northeastern Oklahoma State University, 2.5, 7, Courney Peters, Black Hills State University, 2.7. 8, (tie) Tanegai Zilverberg, Mitchell Technical Institute; and Jade Boote, Dickinson State University, and Catherine Clayton, Cochise, College, 2.8 seconds.

     

    Bareback Riding: (first round winners) 1, Cole Franks, Clarendon College, 83.5 points. 2, Jacob Lees, Western Texas College, 83. 3, Waylon Bourgeois, McNeese State University, 81.5. 4, Lane McGehee, Sam Houston State University, and Ty Pope, Missouri Valley College, 80 points each. 6, Dean Thompson, Western Texas College, 79.5. 7, Kolt Dement, Panola Junior College, 79. 8, Nick Pelke, Missouri Valley College, 77.5.

     

    Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round winners) 1, Garrett Uptain, University of Wyoming, 79.5 points. 2, Weston Patterson, Clarendon College, and Dylan Schofield, Western Texas College, 79 points each. 4, Jake Barnes, Tarleton State University, 77.5. 6, (tie) Cash Wilson, Clarendon College and Cash Wilson, College of Southern Idaho, 76 points each. 8, Quinten Taylor, Casper College, 75.

     

    Bull Riding: (first round winners) 1, (tie) Cole Skender, Three Rivers College, 84.5 points. 2, Quinten Taylor, Casper, College, 79.4. 3, Cullen Telfer, Tarleton State University, 78. 4, Hunter Tate, Coffeyville Community College, 77. 5, Trey Holston, Fort Scott Community College, 73.5. 5, Chris Villanueva, Sam Houston State University, 73. 7, Holden Moss, Three Rivers College, 69.5.

     

  • LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON(S)

    LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON(S)

    Nebraska high school rodeo cowboys work in the arena alongside their dad

    Hazard, Neb.  (June 8, 2021) – It’s a family affair when the Heikels work a rodeo.

    Lance, and he and wife Marti’s sons Cinch and Riggin, work as pickup men at high school rodeos across the state.

    A pickup man’s duties are to help the rider safely dismount from a bucking horse, as he takes off the bucking horse’s back cinch and flank strap and maneuvers his own horse close to the action.

    It’s not a job for the faint of heart, and it helps if the pickup man is a good horseman.

    Lance started picking up in 1992, working for regional rodeo associations and for PRCA stock contractors.

    Older son Cinch, who is eighteen, started with his dad at Nebraska State High School Rodeo Association rodeos five years ago, and Riggin, who is fifteen, started this year.

    It’s more than what goes on in the arena, however. Pickup men often help feed and sort cattle, and if the boys choose to stay out with friends till late, Lance still makes them get up and get to work. He tells them, “you’re hired to do a job. There isn’t any sleeping in.”

    The boys are no strangers to hard work. While their dad works at the Kearney sale barn, they take care of the family’s cattle herd.

    Being a pickup man requires the ability to be a good horseman and read livestock, Lance said. “You have to have livestock savvy,” he said, “and be able to read animals. And you have to ride a good horse.”

    The Heikel have good partners, as Lance calls their horses. They make most of their own, and use them for more than just picking up at rodeos. They ranch and compete on them, both in high school rodeo and at ranch rodeos. “We have a theory at our place,” he said. “They have to do all the above or we don’t keep them.”

    Being on good horses makes picking up easier. “You have to ride a good horse. If you have a good one underneath you, it makes it ten times easier.”

    Cinch is a 2021 graduate of Pleasanton High School; Riggin will be a sophomore at Pleasanton High this fall. Both boys compete in the Nebraska State High School Rodeo Association, in the tie-down roping and the team roping. Last year, Cinch finished as reserve state champ header and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in the team roping, heading for Hunter Heath.

    Cinch has some rodeos lined out for this summer, to pick up. Then, this fall, he’ll attend horseshoeing school, and be back to work, shoeing horses, working for local ranchers, and picking up. Riggin will be in the high school rodeo arenas, alongside his dad, picking up.

    Being a pickup man provides a front seat to the action in the arena, Lance said.

    “If your (equine) partner is good, the horses are bucking and the cowboys are riding, there’s no better feeling in the world.

    “Picking up is really just about being a cowboy.”

    Riggin, who heels for Everett Blackburn, will compete at the Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo in Hastings June 17-19. The rodeo takes place at the Adams County Fairgrounds (947 S. Baltimore Street). The first round is on June 17 at 10 am and 6 pm; the second round is June 18 at 11 am and 6 pm. The finals are at 1 pm on June 19.

    For more information, visit AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com or hsrodeo-nebraska.com, or call 402.462.3247.

  • Sweet Deal

    Sweet Deal

    Pop Can Commemorates Abilene Rodeo’s 75th Anniversary

     

    Abilene, Kan. (June 3, 2021) – To celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo in Abilene, Kan., the rodeo’s logo will be placed on Pepsi cans in the central Kansas area.

    Mahaska Bottling Co. will distribute 60,000 Pepsi cans, with the rodeo’s logo on the back, at area grocery and convenience stores.

    The cans will be sold in twenty-four and twelve-packs and will hit the shelves in the next few weeks, said Larry Brake, rodeo committee man and coordinator of the project.

    The cans will be distributed in the general area of Salina, to Concordia, to Manhattan, Kansas.

    The same project was done for the rodeo’s 50th anniversary in 1995.

    The 75th Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo will take place August 4-7 in Abilene, Kansas at the Central Kansas Free Fair. Performances start at 7:30 pm each night. Tickets are $13 for adults and $5 for kids ages 6-12. They can be purchased at various locations around Abilene and the area, online at

    www.ckff.net, and at the gate.

    For more information, visit the website at WildBillHickokRodeo.com or call 785.263.4570.

  • A Stretch of the Imagination

    Cattlemen’s Days Sound Director is Always Ready for the Action

    GUNNISON, Colo. – Randy Mayer was just clowning around when he came upon the task of music direction.

    It’s not funny business anymore for the Mississippi man, who will return to Gunnison for this year’s Cattlemen’s Days PRCA Rodeo, set for Thursday, July 15-Saturday, July 17, at Fred Field Western Center in Gunnison.

    “I’ve been coming to Gunnison for about eight years,” said Mayer, 44, of Potts Camp, Mississippi, in the state’s northwest corner. “I have a great job. I get to work with the best announcers, the best specialty acts, the best stock contractors and some of the best committees in rodeo. I love all the rodeos I work, and I’m thankful to be everywhere I get to go.”

    Of course, spending every July in the Rocky Mountains for rodeos in Gunnison, Monte Vista, Colorado, and Ogden, Utah, is a pretty comfortable setting, especially compared to the heat and humidity of his home not far from Memphis, Tennessee.

    He’s been recognized as one of ProRodeo’s best sound directors, the men and women who put music and other digital sounds as the accompaniment to the action and entertainment inside the arena. Mayer has been nominated as the PRCA’s Sound Director of the Year each of the past four seasons, and there’s a good reason behind it.

    And it’s almost as if the job fit him before he fit into the job.

    “I started out in rodeo when I was 14 years old and worked my first rodeo in September 1992 as a barrelman,” Mayer said. “I did that until I was 26 or 27.”

    His calling changed, and so did his life’s work. As a whiz with a computer, Mayer found his way to being a sound director by happenstance. Another sound man, Matt Harris, needed some work done on his PC and asked Mayer to handle the workload. They tested it out at an amateur rodeo Harris was working with his ProRodeo Hall of Fame father, Lecile Harris.

    Mayer’s experience doing morning, midday and drive-time shows on WGKX KIX 106 in Memphis was put on full display. Lecile Harris, who had been involved in rodeo production for years, knew there was something special brewing.

    “Alan Moorhead was the announcer, and when it was over with, they all said I was a natural fit for it,” Mayer said. “I went from two rodeos to four my second year, then on to five and six and it just kept building. I started working with Scotty Lovelace and was with him starting in 2010.

    “In 2013, I got hooked up with Stace Smith; that’s how I got myself to Gunnison.”

    He works about 20 rodeos a year across the country and has a blast doing it. It’s more than music and more than just creating a song list; he pays particular attention to the action and has downloaded so many sounds that the perfect “reaction” to what happens is just a mouse-click away. Whether it’s a buck-off or a great ride, Mayer is ready, willing and more than capable of creating the perfect moment for the audience.

    It helps, too, that he oftentimes works with announcer Andy Stewart, who serves as the voice of Cattlemen’s Days rodeo.

    “Andy and I’ve worked side-by-side pretty much the whole time I’ve been I n the PRCA,” said Mayer, who oftentimes goes by the nickname “Stretch,” given his 6-foot-7-inch frame. “We’ve got great chemistry. I know where he’s going, and he knows where I’m fixing to go, and we work off that really well.”

    It shows through each performance, and the fans in Gunnison are oftentimes the beneficiaries of their work together.

  • Four-Time World Champion Bull Rider J.W. Harris Retires PRCA

    Four-Time World Champion Bull Rider J.W. Harris Retires PRCA

    The decorated ProRodeo journey for superstar bull rider J.W. Harris has come to an end.

    Harris, a four-time PRCA world champion and a nine-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier confirmed to ProRodeo Sports News on May 27 that he is retiring.

    “Man, I would just rather be home,” said Harris, 34. “I’m just tired of going up and down the road. I’ve been fortunate enough to make a living in this sport and made lots of great friends. I got to see a lot of places a lot of people don’t get to see in their lifetime. There are guys who don’t get to ride bulls for five years and I’ve been very blessed to do this for a living and do it for as long as I have. I’m one of the few guys who got to do this for this long.”

    Harris’ last ride was at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show & Rodeo Xtreme Bulls in Mercedes, Texas, May 12 when he failed to register a score.

    “I’ve been seeing the writing on the wall because the last few (rodeos) I went by myself because my kids would be in school or whatnot and I just didn’t want to be there (at the rodeo),” Harris said. “I was wanting them to hurry up the rodeo so I could get back on the road and go home. When I came home from Mercedes, I was like, I think this is it.”

    Harris won back-to-back-to-back world titles from 2008-10 and added his fourth in 2013. He made nine consecutive NFRs from 2006-14.

    Harris and his wife, Jackie, have a daughter, Aubrey, 10, and a son, Dillon, 8. Outside of rodeo, Harris has been conditioning some yearlings.

    “If you ride as long as I have the injuries take their toll,” Harris said. “Your reaction time slows down due to the injuries piling up and things not working how they’re supposed to. My riding style has changed in the last couple of years just to try and compensate for stuff. When I haven’t been riding bulls, I’ve been doing cowboy stuff around the house and I kind of get to work when I want to, and I’m lucky on that part.

    “Time with my wife and family is something I cherish. I’ve dragged them all over the country for years. My wife and I have been together since 2006 at the NFR, and she’s been there every step of the way.”

    The Goldthwaite, Texas, cowboy, who joined the PRCA in 2005 and earned more than $2 million in ProRodeo, took a moment to reminisce about his fondest memories.

    “Obviously the four world titles for sure,” Harris said. “It’s kind of hard to put it on one thing you’re most proud of. If it wasn’t for rodeo, I would have never met my wife and wouldn’t have what I have today. It’s all because of rodeo.”

  • Trading a Cowboy Hat for a Mortarboard

    Trading a Cowboy Hat for a Mortarboard

    Several Nebraska high school rodeo athletes finish as valedictorians, salutatorians of their classes

    Hastings, Neb.  (May 31, 2021) – In the last few weeks, the seniors among the Nebraska State High School Rodeo athletes exchanged cowboy hats for mortarboard hats, and several of them graduated at the top of their classes.

    Dalton Kunkee, Callaway; Brooke McCully, Mullen; Rylee Naprstek, Gothenburg; Dean Schroder, Taylor; Jessica Stevens, Creighton; Faith Storer, Arthur; and Kaci Wickersham, Verdigre, all graduated as either valedictorians or salutatorians.

    Kunkee finished as valedictorian of Callaway High School. Throughout his high school career, he was involved in FFA, (two years as president), One Acts (three years with the lead role), speech, National Honor Society, football and wrestling.

    He will attend McCook Community College with full tuition paid, thanks to an academic scholarship.

    In high school rodeo, he competes in the team roping and steer wrestling and is scheduled to make his fourth trip to the Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo again this year, as he’s ranked in the top ten in both of his events. He is a 2021 recipient of the Broc Cresta Memorial Scholarship.

    He is the son of Dean and Angie Kunkee.

     

    Brooke McCully graduated as valedictorian of Mullen High School.

    Brooke McCully graduated as valedictorian of Mullen High School

    During high school, the cowgirl was a four-year letter winner in volleyball and basketball and a three-year letter winner in track (losing a year, due to the pandemic). She was a member of the National Honor Society.

    She competes in the breakaway roping, pole bending, barrel racing and team roping and, as a sophomore, qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo in the breakaway. She’s currently ranked in the top ten in the barrels and the poles and is poised to qualify for her fourth state high school finals rodeo.

    This fall, her rodeo career will be on hold as she plays basketball for Chadron State College. She will major in business accounting and has chosen to put rodeo on the back burner till college is over. She joins her older sister, Brittni, on the basketball team.

    She is the daughter of Brad and Traci McCully.

     

    Rylee Naprstek, Gothenburg, graduated as valedictorian of Gothenburg High School with a 4.0 GPA.

    Rylee Naprstek, Gothenburg, graduated as valedictorian of Gothenburg High School with a 4.0 GPA.

    In high school, she was involved in the Interact Club, student council, the school musical, the speech team, one acts, basketball for two years, FFA, Sigma Phi Beta, pep club, and National Honor Society.

    This fall, she will attend Chadron State College on a Gold Presidential Scholarship, which will cover her entire tuition. Naprstek plans on studying elementary education.

    A breakaway roper, team roper and goat tyer, she has qualified for the state high school finals rodeo all three years and is headed to her fourth qualification this June in Hastings.

    She is the daughter of Chad and Renee Naprstek.

     

    Dean Schroder, the son of John and Belinda Schroder, finished his high school career as valedictorian at Loup County High School with a 4.0 GPA.

    The Taylor, Nebraska cowboy played football for four years and wrestled for three. He was involved in student council, FFA, and the National Honor Society.

    In high school rodeo, he was a saddle bronc rider and a team roper and qualified for the state finals all three years. He’s on track to be in Hastings June 17-19 for this year’s finals as well.

    He has earned a President’s Scholarship to Chadron State College, where he will rodeo collegiately and work towards a rangeland management degree.

     

    Creighton Community High School’s Jessica Stevens finished as salutatorian of her class, with a 4.2 GPA.

    Jessica Stevens

    The Creighton, Neb. cowgirl was involved in FFA, FCCLA, HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), Teammates, speech, and participated in cross country, basketball and track.

    Through all four years of high school, Stevens placed in the HOSA statewide contests and this year, will compete at the international contest.

    In rodeo, she competes in the breakaway, team roping and goat tying and finished the 2019-2020 rodeo season as reserve champion at the national level in the goat tying. She is set to qualify for her fourth state finals next month, and is currently ranked first in the goat tying in the state.

    Stevens has received full tuition through academic and rodeo scholarships to attend Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana, where she will work towards two degrees: animal science and business, and farm and ranch management.

    She is the daughter of Gene Stevens and Heather and Travis Stacken.

     

    Faith Storer, Arthur, completed her high school career as salutatorian of the Arthur County High School Class of 2021, with a GPA of 4.049.

    In high school, she was student body president of the Nebraska State High School Rodeo Association, was captain of the basketball and volleyball teams, and was involved in FFA and National Honor Society. She also participated in track.

    She earned early acceptance to the Bryan College of Health nursing program, which guarantees her, after two successful years of college at Bryan, acceptance into the nursing program at Bryan, which is located in Lincoln.

    The cowgirl competes in the breakaway roping, team roping and girls cutting and has competed at the National High School Finals Rodeo two years. She’s on track for her fourth state finals this year, currently sitting first in the girls cutting standings.

    She is the daughter of Jared and Angie Storer.

     

    Kaci Wickersham, Verdigre, Neb., is co-valedictorian of Summerland High School at Orchard, with a 4.0 GPA.

    The cowgirl, who competes in the breakaway roping and goat tying, was in cross country, track, band, choir, journalism, FFA and National Honor Society. She qualified for the state high school finals rodeo twice and is on track to be there again this June.

    She will attend Chadron State College with full tuition paid, and will study agribusiness.

    She is the daughter of Darin and Kerry Wickersham.

    The Nebraska State High School Finals Rodeo will take place in Hastings at the Adams Co. Fairgrounds June 17-19. The top thirty high school contestants in each event (the top sixty in the team roping) qualify; after state finals determines the winners, the top four in each event go on to the National High School Finals Rodeo, this year held in Lincoln July 18-24.

    The state finals performances are June 17 at 10 am and 6 pm; June 18 at 11 am and 6 pm, and the finals on June 19 at 1 pm.

    For more information, visit AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com or hsrodeo-nebraska.com, or call 402.462.3247.

  • Riley Webb Wins Rodeo Corpus Christi to Put Him in Contention to be the Youngest Millionaire in The History Of Rodeo

    Riley Webb Wins Rodeo Corpus Christi to Put Him in Contention to be the Youngest Millionaire in The History Of Rodeo

    CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – As the event was down to one eligible athlete in the Triple Crown of Rodeo (TCR) at May 9 Rodeo Corpus Christi, tie-down roping had the fans inside American Bank Center on the edge of their seats throughout the jaw-dropping run where Riley Webb (Decatur, Texas) Riley Webb prevailed. The 17-year-old Riley Webb was the undeniable star of the rodeo, delivering what would be the most groundbreaking performance of the event. As only one of two athletes remaining TCR eligible in the TCR round (short round), his 7.03-second effort elevated him to a $12,500 payday. For Webb, fresh off his win at August’s Stampede at the E, the event marked his second consecutive WCRA Major, putting him in contention to be the youngest millionaire in the history of rodeo. If Webb triumphs at July’s Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo, he will be the first victor of WCRA Triple Crown of Rodeo $1 Million Bonus.

    Not only did Webb emerge victorious, but did so by defeating WCRA Windy City Roundup Champion, and the 2013 PRCA World Champion tie-down roper Shane Hanchey (Carmine, Texas) and JD Mccuistion (Collinsville, Texas). Webb received the quickest time in both May 9 rounds.

    As the only team ropers to deliver a qualified run in the TCR round, Kaleb Driggers (Hoboken, Georgia) and Junior Nogueira (Lipan, Texas) delivered a 6.04-second run. Besting the No. 1 team on the Rodeo Corpus Christi Leaderboard and WCRA Champions Erich Rogers (Round Rock, Arizona) and Paden Bray (Stephenville, Texas) along with Clay Smith (Broken Bow, Oklahoma) and Jade Corkill (Stephenville, Texas).

    In the bull riding, PBR (Professional Bull Riders) world No. 9 Derek Kolbaba (Walla Walla, Washington) rode supreme. Capping his perfect 2-for-2 effort on Sunday evening, the 2x WCRA Champion (2018 Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo, WCRA Windy City Roundup) rode County Jail for a monstrous 91.5 points to net an equally impressive check for $16,500. Kolbaba logged the only qualified ride in bull riding, to land his third WCRA Champion Title. The win in Corpus Christi elevates Kolbaba to be one of the highest earners in WCRA with a total upwards of $160,000 in earnings since May of 2018.

    Will Lummus (Byhalia, Mississippi) was unstoppable in the steer wrestling where he notched the only qualified time in the TCR round. The 3x NFR qualifier recorded a 3.54-second run in the long round, prior to delivering a lightning-fast 3.94-second effort in the TCR Round. The victory is Lummus’ first WCRA Major win. Lummus walked away with $16,500.

    As the Sunday evening event continued, a hotly contested race in the breakaway roping began to unfurl. Women’s Rodeo World Champion (WRWC) Madison Outhier (Utopia, Texas), Titletown Stampede Champion Shelby Boisjoli (Stephenville, Texas), and WRWC All-Around Cowgirl Jackie Crawford (Stephenville, Texas) entered the TCR round edging each other’s showdown round times within the tenths of second. Calm and collected, Outhier remained poised as she backed into the roping box as she readied for what would be a career defining moment. Madison’s rope broke off from her saddle horn at an impressive 1.84-second time edging out Crawford’s 2.60-second time and Boisjoli’s penalized 6.67-second time.

    After Shorty Garrett (Dupree, South Dakota), Kolby Wanchuk (Sherwood Park, Alberta) and 2015 PRCA World Champion Jacobs Crawly advanced to the TRC Round with high 80+ scores, the trio quickly became immersed in a shootout for the $12,500 Major payday in the TCR round. Outscoring Garrett, the victor from the 2020 Stampede at The E who was seeking his second win in the Triple Crown, by 5.5 points, Wanchuk delivered a critical 87.5-point ride on Cash Deal to capture the victory.

    Richmond Champion (Stevensville, Montana) won the bareback riding courtesy of his 89-point ride in the long round, and 91.5-point score in the second round, both the top scores in the rounds. Champion topped Caleb Bennetts (Tremonton, Utah) 88-point ride in the short round. In the barrel racing 2019 Days of ’47 Cowboy Game and Rodeo runner-up Maggie Poloncic (Gillette, Wyoming) and mare Puff expertly navigated the course as her 13.817-second run in the TC round was the quickest, distancing runner-up Kelley Carrington (Boston, Georgia) who recorded a 14.176-second run.

    Since launching in May of 2018, the WCRA and its partners have awarded more than $9,000,000 in new money to rodeo athletes.

    On Sunday, June 6 fans will be able to tune into Rodeo Corpus Christi on a CBS network broadcast at 1:00 p.m. ET.

    Nominations are now open for WCRA’s next Major rodeo- The Days of ’47 Cowboy Games and Rodeo taking place July 20-24 in Salt Lake City. Athletes are eligible to nominate their competitive efforts in the Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) until June 27, 2021 to earn a spot in the $562,500 event.

     

    All results from the event can be found here.

    -WCRA-

    About WCRA

    WCRA is a professional sport and entertainment entity, created to develop and advance the sport of rodeo by aligning all levels of competition. In association with the PBR, WCRA produces major rodeo events, developing additional opportunities for rodeo-industry competitors, stakeholders, and fans. To learn more, visit wcrarodeo.com. For athletes interested in learning more about the WCRA Virtual Rodeo Qualifier (VRQ) system, visit app.wcrarodeo.com.

  • Jimmie Munroe Officially Takes Over the Reins as WPRA President

    COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – Beginning today, May 27th, Jimmie Munroe officially starts her Women’s Professional Rodeo Association Presidency following the WPRA Special Election.

    This is a familiar spot for Munroe having served the WPRA in this position twice before. Her first WPRA President term was from 1978-1993 and then again from 2011 to 2012. Munroe takes over the position left vacant by Doreen Wintermute, who retired early the end of March.

    “It will truly be an honor and privilege to once again serve our entire membership as your WPRA President,” said Munroe upon hearing the final results of the special election. “Now is the time to come together so that we can move our sport into the bright future that I know lies ahead.”

    Munroe brings a wealth of knowledge, history and respect to the position. During her previous terms as president she led the association in acquiring equal prize money, obtained national sponsors and advanced the use of electric timers and better arena conditions.

    A true all-around cowgirl, Munroe competed in barrel racing, breakaway roping, and goat tying. A Texas native-born in Waco and currently residing in Valley Mills, she entered her first horse show at three, her first rodeo at ten, and had a rodeo career that included three WPRA world titles (barrels, all-around, tie-down roping-all in 1975), 11 trips to the National Finals Rodeo on three different horses, a two-time NIRA National Champion Barrel Racer and an NIRA National Champion All-Around Cowgirl. She graduated from Sam Houston State University with a bachelor’s degree in education in which she has used not only as a leader of the Association but in conducting horsemanship and barrel racing clinics worldwide, including Australia, Brazil, Canada and of course the United States.

    In 1980, she married Dan O. “Bud” Munroe a 12-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and 1986 saddle bronc riding world champion. The couple has one daughter, Tassie Munroe.

    In 1990, Munroe was named the Coca-Cola “Woman of the Year in Professional Rodeo,” in 1996 was awarded the Tad Lucas Award by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, in 1999 was named the Pioneer Woman of the WPRA and in 2008 was named a Distinguished Alumni of Sam Houston State University. She has been inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame (1992), the Texas Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame (1997), the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame (2003), in 2016 was inducted with her husband in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and in 2019 she joined her husband, who was inducted in 2007, into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.