NLC students earn four championship saddles at Intercollegiate Rodeo

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. – Four championship saddles were awarded to the Northern Lights College Rodeo team last weekend at the Intercollegiate Rodeo in Dawson Creek.

Casey Thomson received the bareback saddle, Rylie Bondaroff won the girls goat tying saddle, and Rylie Dowling secured the team roping saddle along with Wyatt Bondaroff as a heeler, who also received a saddle for steer wrestling. 

The event was hosted on September 30th and October 1st at the Lakota Agriplex.

There were a total of 122 contestants and 230 entries at the championship.

Competitors represented the NLC, the University of Saskatchewan, Olds College, the Southern Alberta intercollegiate team, the Central Alberta team, Red Deer Polytechnic and Lakeland College. 

Contestants competed in ten events, including bull riding, bareback riding, saddle bronc, barrel racing, pole bending, goat tying, breakaway roping, tie-down roping, and steer wrestling. 

Leanne Esau, athletics manager for Engage Sport North on behalf of NLC, says there were over 250 people per day attending the event, which took a year to organize.

“We start almost a year in advance with intense meetings. As of May, we start doing monthly meetings, and then we do weekly meetings as of September,” said Esau. 

Esau stated that it’s important to maintain rodeo culture because it celebrates Canadian heritage. 

“It celebrates your heritage and is a western tradition. The animals themselves are athletes too. There are bloodlines on the bucking stock and the horses, and they’ll breed them to become rodeo athletes,” said Esau 

“For example, in barrel racing, bloodlines on some horses can be traced back to racetrack horses.”

Esau also mentioned it’s important to maintain rodeo culture to support athletes interested in the sport. 

“For the athletes, it’s their sport and calling, it’s what they do,” said Esau.

“It’s also transferable if you work with cattle, it’s a good thing to be able to go out on the range and be able to rope a calf to doctor it. It’s a crossover from ranch life to sport.”

Esau stated that the sport is certainly growing in Canada, and there are many different rodeo events across the Peace region. 

There are two professional yearly rodeos hosted in Dawson Creek in the months of April and August, as well as First Nations tournaments by the Halfway River and the Doig River.

There are also various team roping and barrel racing associations in the North Peace, as well as three Gymkhana clubs.

For more information on the results of the NLC Rodeo, visit the results website.