Rodeo notes: Twin team ropers stand out

Twin brothers Jake and Jim Ross Cooper, sons of 1979 ProRodeo Hall of Fame inductee Roy Cooper, combined for a time of 4.4 seconds to lead Friday night’s team roping. The time puts the brothers, the first twins to compete together at the National Finals Rodeo in team roping, in a tie for third overall with two performances left today.

The tie down ropers struggled with the mud after a brief rainstorm with only two-time defending Mountain States Circuit (Colo. and Wyo.) champion Trevor Theil of Greeley cracking the 10-second mark (9.9 seconds). The time is well off overall leader Monty Lewis’ 7.7 seconds.

Hall of Fame ceremony today

The six-member 2009 class for the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, featuring six-time world champion saddle bronc rider Dan Mortensen, will be inducted at 10 a.m. today at 101 ProRodeo Drive.

Steer roper Walt Arnold, 70, of Silverton, Texas, won the steer roping world title in 1969 and qualified for the National Finals Street Roping 19 times.

Ace Berry, 62, of Knights Ferry, Calif., won four National Finals Rodeo titles in bareback and team roping. He is one of only two to win NFR titles in both kinds of events (1972).

The late stock contractor Erv Korkow provided animals for the first NFR in 1959 through his retirement in 1982.
Mortensen, 40, of Billings, Mont., tied Hall of Famer Casey Tibbs’ record of six saddle bronc NFR titles and won the 1997 all-around.

Bull rider Ted Nuce, 48, of Stephenville, Texas, won the 1985 world title and qualified for the NFR from 1982-95.

The late Leonard Ward became the first to win three world titles in one year when he prevailed in the 1934 bareback bronc, saddle bronc and all-around competitions.

Rodeo raises $5,600 in fundraiser

The Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo raised $5,600 during its fifth annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink Night Thursday for the Renee’s Friends Fund, which provides nonmedical services to breast cancer patients in the region.