CASSIDY LANDS CHAMPIONSHIP IN HOUSTON
March 23 , 2009

Five of the seven Albertans who made it to the semifinals at Rodeo Houston moved ahead to compete in the BP Super Series Championship at Reliant Stadium March 21, with two making it to the final shootout. In the end, it was Curtis Cassidy of Donalda, Alta. who left Texas more than $50,000 richer.

After a 4.1 second tackle in the championship round, Cassidy was tied for third place with two other steer wrestlers. Because only four were to move on to the shootout, scores from the previous rounds were taken into consideration and Cassidy made the cut. And then he made the tackle in a blurry 3.3 seconds. Right behind him with a 3.6-second turn was Nebraska-native Dean Gorsuch. He earned $16,750 overall, which just goes to show what a difference can be made by such a small measure of time.

After snagging another chance in the Wild Card round, Crooked Creek, Alta. bareback rider Dusty LaValley scored 81.5 points. He finished his tenure in Houston in seventh place, after earning $3,500.

Steer wrestler Zane Hankel from Red Cliff, Alta. was a full second behind round leader Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., leaving Hankel in eighth place and out of the shootout.

Defending Houston Rodeo champion barrel racer Lindsay Sears placed fourth at the end of the shootout. She wrapped up the championship round with a swift 15.02, the fastest barrel racing time in Houston this year; but a tipped barrel in the shootout kept that $50,000 championship pay day out of reach. Instead, the big payout went to 60-year-old Super Series I aggregate leader Mary Burger. The Oklahoman finished with a 15.17 second run.

Heeler Marty Becker and Texan roping partner David Key were the aggregate leaders in Super Series III. Unfortunately, the pair failed to score in the championship round. But the duo did manage to rack up more than $11,000 overall, not that far off the $14,600 earnings of fourth place shootout team Chance Kelton and Rich Skelton.