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Rapid
City, SD -- World champion bareback title holder - four times -
Marvin Garrett, Belle Fourche, SD comes from there. So does Paul Tierney, Hermosa, SD all around world champion and world
champion calf roper. Four time saddle bronc world champion Clint Johnson,
originally from Spearfish, SD, has
also called it home.
From high school rodeo arenas come champion rodeo athletes.
It’s as simple as that. When the top three cowboys and cowgirls from each event in the ranks of
South Dakota High School rodeo are put together in a main event, you can expect
to see world-class rodeo.
“Kids compete at much
higher levels of proficiency these days,” observes Kim Sutton who along with
husband Steve produce the 20X Extreme Showcase as part of the Sutton Rodeo
performance lineup offered during the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo.
Set for Sunday, February 1 at 3:00 p.m. (MT) the second annual event is
already drawing national interest. Wrangler, who along with the BHSS Foundation
provides scholarship support, includes it in its best of high school rodeo
telelvised series and you can bet that more than one college rodeo coach is in
the stands, looking to fill their roster with the best talent they can find. They don’t have to look too far past what the kids call “the big
barn”, where they dream of the day they’ll compete in the Black Hills Stock
Show Rodeo arena. For some, the
dream is about to become a reality.
All total, 99 high school rodeo athletes will be geared up and ready to
showcase their rodeo talents during the first weekend of the Black Hills Stock
Show and Rodeo. South Dakota has
three regions of high school rodeo contestants.
The top three cowboys and cowgirls from each region in each event, based
on points after state finals, are invited to compete in this exclusive rodeo
event.
It’s long been a goal of Steve and Kim Sutton (the fourth generation
to produce rodeos) to feature high school rodeo during Stock Show. There’s
never been the space or the time to get that done - until now. “Steve has
always been so proud of South Dakota high school rodeo kids,” says Kim.
“Their talent and commitment and how well so many of them do in collegiate ,
semi-professional and professional rodeo careers.
“The
benefit to the kids is two-fold; one
is they have opportunity to compete
in a showcase level rodeo like this so they get that experience of a new level
of competition. They are so excited
to be in the BHSS Rodeo arena where they’ve watched world champions compete.
Secondly, the confidence they get from doing an event like this is a
boost to their competitive skills, important in building their rodeo careers.”
That
and the analytical eye of university
and college coaches who will be in the seats, looking for talent to build their
own rodeo programs. And that can mean extensive scholarship and rodeoing
opportunities for the nine contenders in each event.
With
the event featuring the top three
high school contestants (both cowboys and cowgirls) in each event from each
region based on year-end points from regional and state competition, Sutton sees
it as a broad based representation of talent from across the state.
“The caliber of contestant at this event is second to none. With that comes Sutton Rodeo’s years of experience in producing state and national high school rodeos. It’s a win/win - for the kids, the sport and for the thousands of people who have come to expect good rodeo at stock show. They won’t be disappointed.”
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