RODEO NOTES: Pikes Peak a key stop on Wrangler Tour

Participants at the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo are competing in one of the last four qualifying rodeos on the 21-stop tour for the 2007 Wrangler ProRodeo Tour.

The first Tour championship event takes the top 35 cowboys from the Tour prize money standings, and the “wild card” qualifiers in the first playoff series rodeo in Caldwell, Idaho, on Aug. 14-18.

Two more events follow until the last one, the Texas Stampede in Dallas.

GIVE AND TAKE

Last year, the Pikes Peak of Bust Rodeo Foundation donated more than $50,000 and started a scholarship fund for children who lost parents based at Fort Carson.

The foundation should donate about $100,000 including scholarships and memorial services, said Rob Alexander, the foundation’s president.

In return, the military volunteers to help the rodeo any way possible. Volunteers handle parking, security, program sales, ushering and working the stalls 24 hours a day.

“They’re around all the time,” Alexander said. “This thing runs on military volunteers. There wouldn’t be a rodeo without the volunteers.”

NIGHT 1 SESSION

Among the winners of the opening night were Jake Rinehart in steer wrestling with a run of 4.5 seconds, Blake Huckabee in tie-down roping in 9.0 and Brittany Hostetter in barrel racing in 17.52.

Clay Tryan and Walt Woodard won the team-roping competition in 5.2.