TEAM ROPERS GET AN EARLY JUMP ON SEASON EARNINGS
May 3 , 2010

The 41st annual Black Gold Pro Rodeo sent a pair of Alberta team ropers home with enough money to keep going down the road, and their first finish at the top of the leader board in the 2010 season.
 
“We did get a cheque at Saskatoon (worth $1,211), but this win, an early win, is always good because, usually, I find that if you can get through and win that first couple thousand relatively fast, it really takes the pressure off what you’re trying to get done in June,” said heeler Riley Wilson, the day after the three-day rodeo in Leduc, Alta. wrapped.
 
“If you go into June without having won money, you kind of feel like you’re behind and like you have to play a little catch up, watch the leader board, and this and that,” he continued. “I always feel like if you can go into June with $2,500 to $3,000, at least, won, it sure seems to make the other rodeos a lot easier.”
 
According to Wilson’s partner, header Marty Lillico of Spirit River, Alta., that’s not saying they plan on taking it easy.
 
“It’s so early, and all these rodeos are inside, so they’re fast setups and it’s ‘go fast or go home,’ really. Once we get outside and the arena sizes change and the scores get longer and the setups are a little different, the game changes,” he explained, noting he’ll play things a little more safe then. “I like to go fast just like everybody else, but the odds of making mistakes goes up.”
 
They certainly didn’t make any mistakes this past weekend in Leduc, though. They marked their steer in 4.3 seconds, a near blur for Lillico, who laughed “nope” when asked if he could walk us through the team’s run.
 
Wilson, who hails from Cardston, Alta. when not on the road, recalled their winning run in a little more detail.
 
“We started off with steer number eight, a black steer who was supposed to be really good; and, as it turned out, he was. He wasn’t as slow as a couple of the other ones, which was maybe a little more beneficial for us because it was a little easier for Marty to get him roped. Marty got a really good start, and the steer was real nice, ran straight down the middle of the pen and Marty got him roped real fast. He did an excellent job of handling him, and I just got fortunate enough to catch both of his feet right as he turned.”
 
This is only Wilson and Lillico’s second year competing together at the professional level, although they’ve been roping together at jackpots for nearly a decade. They earned a combined $2,835, giving them a total of $4,046 so far for the 2010 season.
 
Todd Herzog and Denver Daines split first and second place in the saddle bronc event with an 81.5 apiece. Herzog rolled into the money aboard Harvey Northcott’s Red River, while Daines shoveled up his share on Wintering Hills.
 
Wyatt’s Ghost illuminated an 85 on the scoreboard after bareback rider Michael Solberg nodded to the bucking horse, and spirited $1,219 into the Sunnynook, Alta. cowboy’s bank account for the ride.
 
Bull rider Denton Edge scored an 88 with Northcott’s Redskin to take first place in the bull riding. Edge, of Marwayne, Alta., added $1,472 to his season earnings. He also picked up an additional $910 in day money, as the only rider during the second performance to ride the full eight seconds.
 
Logan Hofer won the tie down roping in 9.2 seconds, earning $1,514, while Donalda, Alta. cowboy Curtis Cassidy picked up the first place cheque in the steer wrestling. Cassidy stopped the clock in 4.4 seconds, worth $2,249.
 
In the ladies barrel racing, 2009 Canadian champion Gaylene Buff cashed $1,559 after her she completed her series of turns around the cloverleaf pattern in 13.27.
 
Two novice roughstock events were afield in Leduc. Royden Griffith of Hanna, Alta. scored a 68 to take first place and a cheque for $446 in the novice saddle bronc; Cole Goodine of Carbon, Alta. rode for 80 and $387 in the novice bareback.