Wyatt Grant of Toppenish takes his turn in the saddle bronc event.
GRANDVIEW - The bulls were tough this past weekend at the 2010 Pro-West Yakima Valley Fair and Rodeo as all but one cowboy was sent to the dirt on Friday and Saturday nights.
Dakota Beck of Moses Lake was the lone rider on Friday night to last eight seconds on the back of a bull, but eight more riders took their turn and failed to stay on Saturday night, giving Beck the de facto win.
For his efforts he walked away with $1,558.
"We had a pretty good rodeo," said Gail Matsumura, one of the organizers of this past weekend's event. "We came close to selling out each night."
Matsumura said approximately 800 spectators attended the rodeo each night and 186 cowboys and cowgirls entered the rodeo's eight events.
In the saddle bronc event Jacob Stacy and Bo Segerman shared the title and each walked away with $477. Buck Sprague settled for third place honors and pocketed $269 for his efforts.
In the bareback competition Justin King impressed the judges the most, getting first place with a score of 79. Eric Mader was second with 74 points and Jeff Cobb was third with 69. A total of $959 was paid out in this event.
In the breakaway event Mesa's Jennifer Casey won with a time of 2:32 and was rewarded with $785 for her efforts. Macy Fuller came in second and earned $649. Shelly Treat was third. A total of $2,707 was paid out for this event.
Katy Bremner had the fastest time in the barrel racing competition with a time of 16.43 seconds. For her efforts she was awarded $862. Jolene Hoburg came in a close second with a time of 16.64 seconds and was given $713. Lynda Gobel was third with a time of 16.65 seconds.
In the team roping event Jason Minor of Ellensburg and Shane Crossley of Hermiston combined to win first place honors and $606 each. Second place went to the team of Danny Martin and Taylor White. Third place was given to Tate Peterson and Bobby Moriarty.
Brandon Christensen of Hermiston was the steer wrestling champ. He was followed by Eric Knapp and Jerrell Wills. A total of $1,377 was paid out to riders in this event.
Jason Minor won his second event of the rodeo in the tie down roping event. His time of 8.6 seconds earned him $630. Clint Endicott came in second with a time of 9.76 and Dakota Eldridge was third with a time of 9.92.
Total payouts for rodeo events were slightly over $17,000.
Matsumura said the rodeo was a success. She was especially proud of the stalk horse races, an event that drew about 70 kids that raced around the arena on stick horses made of corn stalk.
Matsumura also pointed out the bred to buck program that was featured. This educated the crowd on how rodeo animals are taught to buck.
