BONNYVILLE - For the first time in over a year, the grand stands were full and the sounds of cheering filled the air at the Bonnyville Rodeo Grounds.
The Bonnyville Ag Society hosted the first sanctioned pro rodeo since the pandemic. The weekend was also the season kick-off for the Xtreme Indian Relay Races.
“We’re very happy to have the first rodeo in Canada,” exclaimed Mitch Michaud, Bonnyville Ag Society president, adding a highlight of the event was seeing the Xtreme Indian Relay Races for the first time.
“We were really excited to have them here for their season opener.”
Fans braved the hotter temperatures to see cowboys hold on during the saddle bronc, bareback riding, and bull riding events. Team roping, barrel racing, and more had people from across the region filling the stands of the rodeo grounds from July 9 and 10.
They also enjoyed the entertainment of the relay races on Saturday and Sunday, which had warriors, little warriors, and ladies jumping onto thoroughbreds bareback to compete for fastest time.
“With it being so hot and other events going on this weekend, we were happy with the turnout,” Michaud expressed.
Rodeo results
It was tough competition for all the cowboys and cowgirls who participated in the Bonnyville Pro Rodeo.
The bareback riding event saw Ty Taypotat come in first with 81 points, followed by Linden Woods with 80, and Colin Adams in third with 77 points.
First place for steer wrestling went to Dustin Walker with 4.3 seconds and second place was a tie at 4.5 seconds between Stephen Culling and Cody Cassidy.
Logan Spady and Kash Bonnett had the quickest time with 4.6 seconds in the team roping event. Devin Wigemyr and Trey Gallais were the runner ups with 4.7 second and third place went to Jesse Popescul and Kasper Roy with 5.3 seconds.
When it came to saddle bronc riding, Lachlan Miller landed first with 80 points, Colt Smith slid into second with 79 points, and 75 points earned Hunter Sawley third.
There was a tie for first in tie down roping. JT Robinson and Erik Dublanko tied their calves in 8.7 seconds. Popsecul was at 8.8 seconds and Lee Rombough clocked in at 8.9 seconds.
Ladies barrel racing had a first-place finish of 17.956 seconds when Rebecca Miller completec her run. Shelby Spielman came in a close second with 17.968 and third went to Taylor Manning at 17.996 seconds.
Nick Tetz had the only qualifying rides in the bull riding event, he scored 84 points.
Steer riding had no qualifying rides.
Novice saddle bronc saw Sawyer Erickson score 69 points, which gave him the first-place finish. There were no other qualifying rides.
Cruz McNulty received 71 points in novice bareback, earning himself first place. There were no other qualifying rides in this category.
Kendall Pierson came in first with 1.9 seconds in the breakaway roping event, followed by Bradi Whiteside with 2.4 seconds, and Kaybree Zunti with 2.6 seconds.
The results for the Xtreme Indian Relay Races weren’t available for Lakeland This Week’s press deadline. Check online for an updated story with those results.
