COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Angelo (Texas) Stock Show & Rodeo isn't the biggest rodeo in Texas, but has come a long way in elevating its status among the most anticipated and lucrative events of the early-season run.
The 76th San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo – the fifth stop on the 2008 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour – runs Feb. 21-24 and Feb. 27-March 1 at the San Angelo Coliseum.
The PRCA rodeo kicked off with slack for timed events on Feb. 12 at Spur Arena, and early rounds in steer wrestling, team roping, tie-down roping and barrel racing are complete. Meanwhile, steer roping completed its three-head event.
Here are the winners of last week’s slack performances:
- Steer wrestling – First round: K.C. Jones, Decatur, Texas, 3.1 seconds, $2,654. Second round: Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, and Cody Glover, Tucson, Ariz., 3.6 seconds, $2,481 each.
- Team roping – First round: Garrett Tonozzi, Fruita, Colo./Kinney Harrell, San Angelo, Texas, 4.6 seconds, $3,336 each. Second round: Matt Sherwood, Queen Creek, Ariz./Randon Adams, Logandale, Nev., 4.2 seconds, $3,336 each.
- Tie-down roping – First round: Stran Smith, Childress, Texas, 8.2 seconds, $3,262. Second round: Josh Peek, Pueblo, Colo., 7.8 seconds, $3,262.
- Barrel racing – First round: Sydni Blanchard, Albuquerque, N.M., and Krystal Jones, Mission, Texas, 14.62 seconds, $2,958 each.
- Steer roping – First round: Leo Campbell, Amarillo, Texas, 10.3 seconds, $1,918. Second round: Jess Tierney, Hermosa, S.D., 9.8 seconds, $1,918. Third round: Rocky Patterson, Pratt, Kan., 9.2 seconds, $1,918. Average: Chet Herren, Pawhuska, Okla., 37.9 seconds on three head, $2,877.
More than 1,000 contestants are expected to vie for a total purse close to $450,000. This year, added money for each event rose by as much as 20 percent – $12,500 for each event, $25,000 in team roping and $5,500 in steer roping. The rodeo has unlimited entries, and timed-event contestants may compete in as many as four rounds if they advance to the final round.
In 2007, the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo paid a total purse of more than $430,000, a nearly 60-percent increase from the purse offered just four years before. The rodeo joined the Wrangler ProRodeo Tour in 2004.
Every year, hundreds of volunteers, from grandparents to grandkids, put the annual event together. About seven years ago, the community supported the building of Spur Arena, which is used for timed-event qualifying rounds and for numerous other activities, including equine shows.
The first San Angelo livestock show was held in the spring of 1932 at the polo grounds north of town. Organizers added a rodeo and moved the event to the fairgrounds on the north side of the city in 1934. A tornado devastated the Lake View community and fairgrounds in 1953, and association members then began an effort to build an indoor arena for the event. In 1959, the first rodeo performances were held in the San Angelo Coliseum, which is the home of the PRCA rodeo today.
According to the event’s officials, the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo puts more than $6 million into the local economy, and the Roping Fiesta held in the fall has almost as much impact. San Angelo festivities and related events attract close to 100,000 people during the year. |
