The 66th Ropin’ and Riggin’ Days Rodeo this weekend
The Casper College Rodeo team will host the college’s 66th Annual Ropin’ and Riggin’ Days Rodeo April 8-10 at The Arena.
The Thunderbird men are heading into this week’s rodeo in second place in the Central Rocky Mountain Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. The T-Birds currently have 4,705 points, 1,930 points behind the first-place University of Wyoming Cowboys but 1,625 points ahead of the third-place Laramie County Community College Golden Eagles.
Last year’s College National Finals Rodeo winners in team roping, Kellan and Carson Johnson, crushed the competition at last weekend’s rodeo held at Colorado State University, scoring 790 points, 435 points ahead of the second-place team from Gillette College.
The women’s team also did well at CSU, and the team now sits in third place with 1,745 points, 250 behind second-place Gillette College with 1,995 points. The University of Wyoming women’s team is in first place with 2,245 points.
The top two schools will send full six-man and four-woman teams to the year-end College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, but the top three scorers in each event are also sent to the CNFR to compete for their school. The Thunderbirds have one more rodeo after this weekend. If both the men and women continue to do well, fans will be able to see a number of Casper College T-Birds represent the college and community at the CNFR June 12-18 at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper.
Casper College employees and students are admitted to all the rodeo performances free of charge. Both groups are also encouraged to dress … “in your best rodeo jeans and shirts on Friday to show support for the team. Traditionally, (the college) has always done it. I think it’s a good tradition to wear your best western wear,” said Kim Byrd, vice president for student services.
The rodeo will feature three performances: Friday evening at 7, Saturday at 6 p.m., and the final performance at 10 a.m. Sunday. Cowboy church will be held Sunday at 8 a.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, $4 for those 60 or older, $4 for students 13-17, free for children 12 and under, and $17 to see all three rodeos. Tickets can be purchased at The Arena box office on the day of each performance. The Arena is located at the Central Wyoming Fairgrounds in Casper. For those unable to attend in person, the rodeo will be livestreamed at youtube.com/c/CasperCollegeAthletics.