For the second straight year, a Ponoka teenager will be heading south of the border to compete with the best in rodeo.
Kash Bonnett hung on to the last qualifying spot for the National High School Finals Rodeo in both steer wrestling and tie down roping at the Alberta High School Rodeo Association provincial finals over the weekend at the Calnash Ag Event Centre. Last year, he earned a ticket to the finals — that are once again being held in Rock Spring, Wyoming from July 14 to 20 — in team roping.
Bonnett wound up fourth overall in steer wrestling, leaping over several competitors that were ahead of him at the start of the event. He posted times on all three of his runs — 25.0 seconds, 29.3 and 15.8 — and that helped him rise in the points standings, finishing with 154.
Many of the other competitors either posted a ‘no-time’ or exceeded the 30 second time limit, handing them zero points on that run.
In the tied down roping, Bonnett once again was one of the few that managed to mark in all three runs — putting up times of 10.5, 15.2 and 15.1 seconds. That proved to be just barely enough, as Bonnett edged into fourth spot by a single point.
Meanwhile, there another Ponoka rodeo competitor will be heading on a trip as a result of her performance at provincials.
Macy Auclair came into the event at top of the barrel racing standings, but despite some consistent runs wasn’t able to hold on for a trip south of the border.
Instead, her times of 17.361, 17.212 and 17.213 seconds kept her inside the top 1o, earning an opportunity to race at the Canadian High School Rodeo Finals that run July 26 to 28 in Merritt, B.C.
Grand try
Unfortunately for the rest of the Ponoka contingent, provincials didn’t quite go their way.
Auclair finished up 15th overall in the breakaway event and 45th in team roping, while Couy McBride wound up in 14th in tie down roping and Bonnett ended up 28th in team roping.
