FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                              November 7, 2006

ANNUAL RANGER RODEO STARTS THURSDAY, 500 CONTESTANTS EXPECTED

            Approximately 500 collegiate cowboys and cowgirls are expected to ride into Alva this weekend for the annual Ranger Rodeo presented by Northwestern Oklahoma State University. The student competitors will come from some 20 colleges and universities that are members of the Central Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

Performances start at 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Woods County Fairgrounds Arena. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for children under 12 years of age. Children 5 and under are admitted free.

Members of the 2006-07 Ranger Rodeo Team are (from left, front row) Cody Parker, Luke Blanton, K.W. Lauer, Maggie Wood, Maggie Jo Saylors, Taylor Doeden, Ashley Blount, Robbie Lynn Wilson, Ashley Amos, Mary Quist, Kari Biddle, Cassandra Baur, Jesse Powders, Jayme Ramsey, (second row) Chance Frazier, Cody Cooper, Brett Bullington, Dallas Shepherd, Tyler Ricke, Haley Nida, Tyler Johnson, Tim Clifton, Dani Miller, Justin Binder, Dustin Elmenhorst, Katie Neville, Charity Maune, Teddi Winfrey, Johni Beth Gibbs, Toni Shaw, Rebecca Owens, Megan McMahan, assistant coach Megan Swayze, head coach Tim Kolb, (third row) Drifton Hoyle, Clayton Kolb, Colt Stearns, Lance Heaton, Will Morris, Kyle Penwell, Stacy Pollard, Garrett Lohmann, Holly Edmondson, George Henry, Wade Kunze, Remington Rose, Darin Boots, Randi Newman, Hailey Beth Walker, Nikki Newman, Kim Sorensen, (fourth row) Cody Stone, Mitch Barney, Stacy Raynor, Donald Venable, Dan Weil, assistant coach Boe Coleman, Mark Miller, Taylor Pingry, Tyler Macoubine, Cody Hatcher, Dace Green, (back row) Kyle Winslow, Kenny Fiedler, Clay Leisher, Barry Fagg, James Hajek, Brett Olive, Brandon Seufer, Ryan Prater, Zach Freeman and Tyrel Reichert.

Barring inclement weather, “Rodeo Days” will be held for Alva’s elementary school children on Thursday at 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday on Alva’s square. Rodeo team members will be on hand to explain the different events and demonstrate some of them.

Ten to 12 contestants in each of the nine collegiate rodeo events will be on center stage during the Thursday and Friday night performances. The top 10 in each event will return for the championship go-round on Saturday night.

            The events are bareback bronc riding, saddle bronc riding, men’s calf roping, women’s breakaway calf roping, steer wrestling, goat tying, team roping, barrel racing and bull riding. Two sections of the popular bull riding event will be run on Thursday and Friday nights.

            Contestants not appearing during the performances will compete in the “slack” performances starting at 9 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday mornings. Participation in the performance or slack rounds is decided by random draw.

            Special events will occur at each evening performance. On Thursday night, teams will attempt to milk wild cows, and Northwestern students will be admitted for $4 with a current I.D. card. The teams will consist of representatives from the offensive and defensive squads of the Ranger football team, the Ranger baseball team and the Ranger rodeo team.

Friday will be children’s night and will feature a children’s calf scramble. Several animals will be marked to denote prize winners.

Rodeo Days on the Downtown Square for elementary school children on Thursday.

            On Saturday night, when event and team winners are determined, there will be a relay race up and down the arena by cowboys and cowgirls representing different schools. However, they will all be on foot—not horseback.

            Monty Stueve of Perry will be making a return appearance as public address announcer. He has been announcing rodeos for the past seven years and was the 2002 and 2003 American Calf Roping Association Announcer of the Year.

The bullfighters will be Wade Kunze, a junior from Moorhead, Iowa, who is a member of the rodeo team, and Joe Butler from Perry, who is making his second straight appearance.

“Our team has been busy getting ready for our rodeo. Both the men and women have been performing very well this year and practicing hard so they can make a good showing at home,” Kolb said. “I’m really proud of our student-athletes and their diligence because putting on a rodeo this size takes a lot of work. In addition, our practice sessions last about three and a half hours each day, and every team member is there. They work hard, and I know it is going to pay off.”

After two of the 10 Central Plains rodeos scheduled for 2006-07, Northwestern has 30 students in the top 15 in the regional rankings, and the women’s team as a whole is in first place and the men’s team in second in their respective divisions.

Brett Olive, a junior from Ford, Kan., is fifth in the saddle bronc riding, and Cody Parker, a junior from Claremore, is in seventh place in bareback bronc riding.

In calf, or tie-down, roping, Coleman Proctor, junior from Miami, is in first place; K.W. Lauer, senior from Buffalo, is tied for eighth; Parker, and Tyler Johnson, junior from Mound City, Kan., are tied for 10th; and Luke Blanton, junior from Lamont, is 12th.

Northwestern also has a leader in steer wrestling. Mitch Barney, a senior from Logan, Iowa, is in first place, with Cody Cooper, freshman from Oak Grove, Mo., in ninth; Colt Stearns, sophomore from North Platte, Neb., tied for 10th; and Blanton, tied for 12th.

There are a number of Rangers making a mark in the team roping standings. In heading, Lauer is in fifth; Kyle Winslow, junior from Austin, Minn., sixth; Brandon Seufer, junior from Holly, Colo., seventh; Tim Clifton, junior from Pleasanton, Kan., ninth; Johnson, 10th; and Blanton, 11th.

In heeling, Cody Stone, senior from Louisburg, Kan., is seventh; Taylor Pingry, sophomore from Arkansas City, Kan., ninth; and Justin Binder, senior from Inman, Kan., 10th.

On the women’s side, Maggie Jo Salyors, a sophomore from Eudora, Kan., is third in barrel racing, and Haley Nida, a freshman from Alva, is in fourth.

In breakaway roping, Rebecca Owens, senior from Choctaw, is first; Teddi Winfrey, a senior from Plains, Kan., is second; Dani Miller, junior from Blue Mound, Kan., fourth; Nikki Newman, senior from Sparta, Mo., fifth; Johni Beth Gibbs, junior from Sheridan, Ark., 11th; and Randi Newman, sophomore from Sparta, Mo., 14th.

Winfrey is first in goat tying, and Robbie Lynn Wilson, a sophomore from Arthur, Neb., is fourth.

-NW-

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