A WEEKEND OF WINS FOR BROOKS BAREBACK RIDER
June 10, 2009

Kyle Bowers was the bareback rider to watch this past weekend, placing at all three Canadian Profession Rodeo Association (CPRA) events and keeping his first place position in the Canadian standings safe for at least another week.

The Brooks, Alta. cowboy’s best ride was in his hometown at the Kinsmen Rodeo Grounds on June 5, where Bowers shared the spotlight with Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Alley Ways. The two champions earned 84 points for the ride, adding $927 to Bowers’ pocketbook.

After arriving in Rocky Mountain House, Alta. the next day, Bowers rode Outlaw Buckers’ Run Around Sue. He placed sixth out of the 30 bareback riders competing at the Rocky Pro Rodeo, and added an extra $162 to his weekend earnings with the 79-point ride.

Bowers then made the trek up to the Lea Park Pro Rodeo in Marwayne, Alta. where he had a go on Franklin Rodeo’s Flat Out. His 76-point ride earned him a cheque for $223 which brings his season earnings to a grand total of $8,978.

The first place slot in Lea Park was a tie between Kevin Taylor and Michael Solberg. Taylor, a bareback rider from Swift Current, Sask., earned his 82 on Franklin Rodeo’s Night Winds. Solberg, who hails from Sunnynook, Alta., scored his 82 on the Calgary Stampede’s Grated Coconut. Both cowboys earned $1,920, which shifts Taylor from seventh to fourth in the Canadian standings. Solberg remains in sixth.

In the saddle bronc, Millarville, Alta.’s Sam Kelts led the pack with an 80.5 on Franklin Rodeo’s After Midnite. He earned $3,147 for the ride, while fellow Albertan Jesse Flett won $2,707 in the bull riding. Flett picked up a cool 90 points on the Franklin Rodeo bull Good Vibrations. Those earnings, plus an additional $400 in day money, catapult Flett from ninth to first in the Canadian standings permit race.

Tie-down roper Matt Shiozawa of Chubbuck, Idaho earned $2,215 for his 6.8 second run. Okotokian Coleman Kohorst bested the other steer wrestlers in Marwayne in 3.7 seconds. His run earned him $2,411.

Reigning Canadian ladies barrel racing champion Lisa Lockhart won in her event. The South Dakotan earned $2,735 in 16.59 seconds.

Team ropers Brandon Beers and Marty Becker led the pack with a 4.0 second go, worth $3,789 between the duo.

Lea Park was the only CPRA venue for the novice bronc riders this past weekend, and the 13 novice saddle bronc riders and six novice bareback riders stepped up to the challenge. Current novice saddle bronc riding standings leader Rylan Geiger placed first with a 72, earning the Saskatchewanian $532. In the novice bareback, Colin Adams from Deloraine, Man. picked up a cheque for $423 with an 80-point ride.

Lea Park was also the only place with a horse race, and a bout that left Dan Brown the winner with $855. Rick Quarrel was a close second and picked up $698.

At the Rocky Pro Rodeo, Shaun Stroh from Dickinson, N.D. won in the saddle bronc riding. He received a $1,132 payday after his 81.5 points on Vold Rodeo’s Sky High. Stroh is currently in second place in the Canadian standings for the saddle bronc riding, and 10th in the world.

In the bareback, it was Airdrie, Alta.’s Russ Hallaby and Vold’s Bootlace taking top honours with an 86.5. Hallaby added $941 to his season earnings for a total of $8,911, just $67 behind bareback standings leader Bowers.

Karson Legault painted an 86.5 with Vold Rodeo’s Picasso in the bull riding. The cowboy from Val Marie, Sask. picked up a cheque worth $1,383

Clint Robinson from Spanish Fork, Utah and Albertan Justin Guenthner both picked up cheques for $1,519, Robinson in the tie-down roping for his winning 7.4 second round, and Guenthner in the steer wrestling for his 3.7 second tackle.

In the ladies barrel racing, Lindsay Sears played a little catch-up at her fifth rodeo on the CPRA circuit so far this year. She won $1,492 with her 16.69-second turn around the barrels. In the team roping it was Saskatchewan’s Murray Linthicum and Alberta’s Dwight Wigemyr who teamed up for a first place time of 5.3 seconds. The 2008 Canadian team roping champions split $2,492.

Shay Marks, a 14-year-old boys steer rider out of Sunnybrook, Alta., placed first in his event in Rocky. He earned 74 points for his ride, worth $272. The earnings squeezes him into second place in the Canadian standings. Lonnie West, who placed fourth in Rocky with a 69.5 added $68 to his earnings. The Cadogan, Alta. cowboy still holds fast to the top spot in the Canadian standings with a total of $1,462. Marks has $1,196.

Competitors in the cow milking each had two go-rounds. Chase Sandy earned $264 in the first performance, and Darren Tracy picked up $264 in the second performance. Karson Bowhay placed third in round one and second in the second go-round for total winnings of $296.

The Kinsmen Rodeo Grounds in Brooks, Alta. got new chutes this year and whether that made a difference to Luke Butterfield or not doesn’t change the fact that he placed first with an 82-point ride on Kesler’s Coal Bank. The Ponoka, Alta. cowboy earned $1,254.

Cole Collins picked up his second bull riding cheque of the weekend at Brooks’ Kinsmen Pro Rodeo. He tied for ninth with Karson Legault at Lea Park with a 78 for $282, but scored an 83 for first place in Brooks. Collins, who hails from Fort John, B.C., earned $1,118 plus $275 in day money for his round on Kesler Rodeo Co.’s Nip N Tuck.

Tyson Durfey picked up $1,540 in the tie-down roping. The Washington-based cowboy wrapped up his go in 7.5 seconds. Durfey will stay in the top position in the tie-down roping standings for another week. Last year, he finished the season in first place and went on to secure the championship.

In the steer wrestling, Cochrane, Alta.’s Tanner Milan grabbed $1,962 with his 3.7 second tackle.

Another Albertan picked up a cheque in the ladies barrel racing. Kelly Fogle of Sexsmith raced to earnings of $1,864 with her 17.16 second run. Rana Walter of Lethbridge, Alta. was hot on Fogle’s tail with a second place finish of 17.36 seconds, worth $1,598.

Don and Steele DePaoli bested their competition by nearly a full second in the team roping. The duo from Longview, Alta. split $2,606.