Aggie Rodeo Club saddles up for Intercollegiate competition

By: Mindy Riffle

Posted: 3/30/07

The Intercollegiate Rodeo is coming to Caldwell this weekend.

More than 15 colleges, including several junior colleges, from the Southern region will compete in a variety of events. The rodeo will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at the Burleson County Fairground and will be Saturday.

The Texas A&M Rodeo Club is sponsoring the rodeo in Caldwell, its members put a lot of effort into the event.

"We basically have to get all the sponsors for the financial part of the rodeo," said Blain Gwinn, a senior agricultural business major and three-year A&M rodeo team member. "We basically man the whole thing, so that we can have others schools come and compete."

This rodeo is one of the 10 on the circuit that will determine which cowboys and cowgirls will qualify to go in June to the College National Finals in Casper, Wyo.

While each cowboy and cowgirl will be competing for an individual seat in the finals, each college picks six men and four women to make up rodeo teams. The top two men's teams and the top two women's teams, as well as the top three individuals in each event, will advance to the finals.

"Texas A&M first established its rodeo club in 1919," said Al Wagner, faculty sponsor for the Texas A&M Rodeo Club.

The women's teams have had an award-winning history.

"Our women's team has either won or placed second in the national finals for the past three years," Wagner said.

Elizabeth Sullivan is first in the standings for barrel racing, the women's team is first in the region and the men are sitting eighth, with several men and women in the top 10 rankings in their individual events.

The rodeo club members train and ride their own horses. Many of them ride horses they used in high school rodeos or open circuits in the past.

"For a lot of us, it is all about 10 to 15 years of hard work and it all comes down to competing against the best riders in the state at these college rodeos," Gwinn said.