College Rodeo is in Session...

...and almost done for the spring. The top teams and individuals are headed to the Casper Events Center for the College Finals June 13th -19th. It'll be the 62nd annual CNFR.

In our area, this weekend, (out of April and into May) has Dickinson State University (ND) hosting the final rodeo of the season for the Great Plains Region. (That is primarily the Dakotas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin.) They've held nine rodeos since last September and the battle is brewing at almost every level: Dickinson State and South Dakota State are neck and neck for the mens team title; the same in the womens level so this last rodeo is gonna make a big difference. Black Hills State in Spearfish, SD is 3rd in both mens and womens standings. In the mens' All Around, it's a 4-way race led by PJ Painter of BHSU. The womens All Around is a near runaway for Halley Treeby of Dickinson, ND. Tanner Aus of Iowa Central has a commanding lead in the Bareback Riding, and Rachel Tiedeman of SDUS is a sure winner in the barrels; but every other individual event will come down to the last round in Dickinson this weekend at the Blue Hawks Stampede. Good luck to all of them.

The Big Sky Region of Montana has this weekend off and will finish in Missoula on May 7th & 8th.
The Central Rocky Mountain Region (Wyoming and Colorado) will close out this weekend in Laramie. Gillette College has a nip and tuck battle for the mens title with Central Wyoming (Riverton) but takes an overwhelming lead to UW this weekend for the ladies. Nikki Steffes of Wyoming has an almost insurmountable lead for the Ladies All Around, and for the guys: Cole Dorenkamp of Gillette has a less than comfortable lead.  In the Bareback Riding Ty Breur has a huge lead and Nikki Steffes will be hard to beat in the Goat Tying; otherwise, there are battles brewing for all the other titles.

Still no word on whether my old podnuh Bob Christopherson is gonna be elected to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame. Voting has been going on all month with the induction ceremonies in June in Medora. Bob won a couple of National High School championships as a bull dogger, and won the average a couple of times at the NFR in Oklahoma City. You'd think he'd be a lock, but I'll let you know when its official.

You've probably heard that Jim Wilson of Ridge, Montana, will be honored by the Mandan, ND 4th of July rodeo committee. The old pickup man will be memorialized with a collectible poster in 2010. Well deserved for a true cowboy.

See ya'll down the road some place.