The BC High School Rodeo Finals are being held in Williams Lake from June 9-12, 2011 and it is the first time in the history of high school rodeo in B.C. (since 1969) that we will be hosting the event.
For our local high school rodeo competitors, the last chance to crack the top 12 in the standings was to win or place high at the Valemont High School Rodeo this past weekend; for a select few, it was a good run but for several others it was a heartbreak tour, as they failed to place and therefore, will not qualify to compete in the home-town finals showdown.
Results from Valemont on Saturday included a second-place finish (15.292 seconds) for Ellis Smith (Williams Lake) in the barrel race which earned her nine points, moving her into ninth overall in the B.C. South region — earning a spot in the BCHS Rodeo Finals.
In the tie down roping on Saturday, Ryan Jasper (Riske Creek) took second (15.5 seconds) and on Sunday, Chad Braaten (150 Mile House) was second (14.7 seconds). Braaten finished the season as the number one tie down roper in BCHSRA South Region. Local tie down ropers qualifying for the finals are: first — Braaten, third — Jasper and 11th — Matthew Armes of Williams Lake.
Breakaway roping on Saturday was a three/four split between Williams Lake’s Ellis Smith and Rika Wieth of Lone Butte, both with 4.5 second runs. On Sunday, Wieth was the winner with 3.31 second time. Both are going to the finals, with Wieth in first place (South region-Season Leader) and Smith in fourth position.
Local bull riders fared well on Saturday in Valemont; Colton Manuel (150 Mile House) took first (66 points), Ryan Jasper finished second (61) and Grayson Winters (150 Mile House) followed up in third (58).
On Sunday, Manuel won again with a score of 69, followed by Jasper in second with a 67 and Winters in fourth place with a score of 58.
Jasper captured the South Region Season bull riding title, so he will go first to the finals, followed by Colton Manuel (second), Grayson Winters (fourth) and Devin Graham (Anahim Lake) in fifth.
Pole bender Terris Billyboy of 150 Mile House had a successful weekend, taking sixth spot (21.495 seconds) Sunday in Valemont, a placing that ensured her trip to the finals. She qualified in 11th place, the only local cowgirl to make it to the B.C. finals in pole bending.
In the team roping (Saturday/Valemont) the local results were as follows: Rika Wieth (Lone Butte) and Kelly Buhler (Princeton) second — 8.3 seconds, Nik Smith (Peachland) and Ryan Jasper (Riske Creek) third — 12.5 seconds, and Kristin Bell (Dawson Creek) and Devan Reay (Williams Lake) sixth —– 13.8 seconds.
In Sunday’s team roping, results were: Wieth and Buhler (7.5 seconds) second , Bell and Reay (12.1 seconds) third and Madison Mills (Kamloops) and Chad Braaten (150 Mile House) (34.0) eighth .
Local team ropers qualifying for the BC Finals are: fifth — Chad Braaten, ninth — Devan Reay, 12th — Ellis Smith, 18th — Rika Wieth, 20th — Ryan Jasper and 23rd — Matthew Armes (24 ropers equals 12 teams).
The team ropers are listed singly as not all of the regular pairs finish the season with the same point totals, differing if one of them wasn’t able to get to all the rodeos — then the other picked up different partner and gathered more points. The top 24 qualify and the teams are made up from those 24 ropers.
Two Williams Lake cowboys posted the only two successful bareback rides of the entire season (South region), so Jasper took the season title on the strength of his first-place ride at our high school rodeo in May, one point ahead of second-place finisher Daine Bortolussi of Williams Lake.
Come on down to the Stampede grounds and watch all the action (June 9-12).