Published: April 29, 2008 03:07 pm            

BRETT HOFFMAN: Local rodeo flair

Last year, Athens cowboys Cash Myers and Jeff Chapman missed out on qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

This year, the two men are attempting to return to the Las Vegas championships and they are entered in this weekend’s Elder Dodge Henderson County PRCA Stampede in Athens. The Stampede began Friday anc concludes Saturday with a performanceat 7:30 p.m. at the Henderson County Fair Park Complex.

The rodeo has drawn some other big names as well, including 13-time NFR tie-down roping qualifier Blair Burk, five-time NFR bareback riding qualifier Chris Harris, Isaac Diaz, who last year qualified for his first NFR in saddle bronc riding, and Rope Myers of Van, a former world steer wrestling champion.

Some great local talent will also be on hand including Joey Bell Jr., of Athens, who has qualified for the 2007 NFR in steer wrestling, and bareback rider Steven Anding of Cross Roads, who finished fourth at the March Dodge National Circuit Finals in Pocatello, Idaho.

Also on the card are barrel racer Ashton Elder of Athens, who won the title last year; team roper Boogie Ray of Mabank and bull rider Tate Harris of Palestine, who won the Dogwood Classic PRCA Rodeo in Palestine two weeks ago.

Veteran stock contractor Sammy Andrews, who owned the late world champion bull, Bodacious, will provide the livestock.

Briefly

• Sam Houston State’s men’s and women’s teams are ranked second in the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association standings going into next’s weekend’s Hill College Rodeo, the ninth of 10 regular-season shows in the Southern Region. The season wraps up May 3 at the Wharton County College Rodeo. The top two teams from the region advance to the June College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo.

• On the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series, Zack Brown who lives in Santa Fe, a small town near Houston, earned $37,969 after winning the tour stop last weekend in Billings, Mont. McKennon Wimberly of Cool pocketed $6,195 after finishing fifth. The tour stops in San Antonio on May 17 and in Dallas on June 21-22.

• In the National Cutting Horse Association’s Super Stakes Open division finals in Fort Worth, High Brow CD and rider Austin Shepard tied with Kory Pounds and Playin N Fancy Smart with scores of 227 on April 20 at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum. The victory earned the horses owners $103,776. The Super Stakes is the second jewel of the sport's Triple Crown Series.

• In the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, defending world champion saddle bronc rider Taos Muncy broke his leg on April 20 at the Red Bluff (Calif.) Round-up. Muncy, 20, on Corona, N.M. was participating in a traditional sideshow called “Wild Ride,” when riders dress in a costume and attempt to bust a bronc.

Muncy, who was dressed as an American soldier, made a qualified ride, but as he was dismounting, his right foot hung in a stirrup and he suffered multiple fractures. Last year, Muncy won the saddle bronc riding title in the NIRA while attending Panhandle State and he also won the PRCA title.

Brett Hoffman is a 20-year rodeo columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a member of the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. He can be reached at brett@myrodeoinsider.com.

        

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