CLAREMORE, Okla. – The locals found the good and the bad that comes with a soggy rodeo Sunday night during the final performance of the Will Rogers Stampede. While steer ropers Brodie Poppino and Brady Garten suffered no-times, team ropers Coleman Proctor and Jake Long pulled off the fastest time of the week to claim[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Justin Pollmiller plodded through the mud not knowing much about Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Cool Change, the horse he was to compete on Saturday night. The more he learned about the athletic equine, the faster his pace got. By the second performance of the Will Rogers Stampede PRCA Rodeo began, he was[...]

First round: 1. Bryce Davis, 11.1 seconds, $984; 2. J.P. Wickett, 11.6, $815; 3. (tie) Jason Evans and Rocky Patterson, 11.8, $560 each; 5. C.A. Lauer, 13.3, $306; 6. Cody Lee, 13.5, $170. Second round: 1. Rocky Patterson, 10.6 seconds, $984; 2. Chet Herren, 12.0, $815; 3. Brad Mohon, 13.0, $645; 4. Jay Sellers, 13.1,[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Laine Herl is just 21 years old and has big dreams in the world of rodeo. He took a pretty solid leap toward that Friday night during the first performance of the Will Rogers Stampede PRCA Rodeo. Herl, of Goodland, Kan., posted a 4.1-second run to take the early lead in steer[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country are preparing to converge on Claremore this week. The Will Rogers Stampede PRCA Rodeo – the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s 2014 Small Rodeo of the Year – will feature nearly 600 entries for the upcoming event, set for 7:45 p.m. Friday, May 22-Sunday, May[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Miss Rodeo America Lauren Heaton will have a meet-and-greet with rodeo fans beginning at 11 a.m. Friday, May 22, at Drysdales Western Wear on 71st Street in Tulsa. Heaton, the first Miss Rodeo Oklahoma to win the title of Miss Rodeo America, grew up in Alva, Okla., and graduated from Oklahoma State[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Will Rogers Stampede PRCA Rodeo organizers aren’t settled on the past. Sure, being named the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s 2014 Small Rodeo of the Year is quite an honor; now it’s time to look ahead. “We didn’t want to rest on our past accomplishments, no matter how proud we are of them,”[...]

JACKSONVILLE, Texas – Rodeo fans in this east Texas community of nearly 15,000 know they can expect world-class action every May. The Tops in Texas Rodeo is a showcase of the sport’s brightest stars, including the animal athletes from Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo. This year’s event is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14-Saturday,[...]

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Growing up on the family farm just east of Alva, Okla., Lauren Heaton was raised around rodeo. Now she is the sport’s primary ambassador, the first Miss Rodeo Oklahoma ever crowned as Miss Rodeo America. She carries the torch for the Western lifestyle to events all across North America, including the Will[...]

When I developed Rodeo Media Relations, I had been covering the sport for the largest newspaper in Oklahoma. I had purchased a new SUV in 2002, and it quickly became my rodeo wagon. I drove many miles across the red dirt-lined highways to tell cowboy tales to the periodical’s readers. That vehicle became an identifiable[...]