Goodine on top of the world

Laurence Heinen
Times Contributor

 

Cole Goodine knew he had to have a good ride on Monday to win the bareback competition at the 2016 Strathmore Stampede.
Goodine did just that as he impressed the judges with an 88-point ride – the best score of the day – atop Shadow Warrior.
“It was just one of those rides that feels amazing,” said Goodine, who hails from nearby Carbon, Alta. “You get off just feeling like you’re on top of the world. It reminds you why you love this so much.”
When added to his 85-point ride in Round 1, Goodine posted the top total score of 173 points to earn $2,355.36 and a shiny new belt buckle. In total, he took home $5,778.39 for 16 seconds of work over two days of competition.
“It means a lot to me to win here where I know so many people and so many people are here rooting for me,” said Goodine, who once played hockey for the Strathmore Wheatland Kings before finishing his Junior B career with the Three Hills Thrashers.
As of July 29, Goodine sat third in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) bareback standings with $18,466.83 in earnings.
“In the spring I got laid off,” said Goodine, who worked as a welder for Lost Creek Custom Welding. “Funny story about that is he still sponsors me. He still wants to send me down the road and he supports me. I’m going to take a year and really focus on rodeoing and really see what it can do for me.”
In addition to winning the steer-wrestling competition, Morgan Grant placed fourth in tie-down roping to take home nearly $9,300 in prize money.
“I kind of lucked out there a little bit to win Strathmore, which is really cool,” said Grant, who had a combined time of 13.0 seconds on three steers to beat out second-place finisher Rowdy Hays of Rocky Mountain House, Alta., by 1.7 seconds. “The second biggest rodeo in Canada, it’s awesome.”
Originally from Granton, Ont., Grant relocated to Didsbury, Alta. last September and was happy to be able to compete so close to his new home.
“It’s about an hour and 15 minutes away,” said Grant. “This is pretty cool. I did some work on the farm this morning and just had to drive on over here.”
Logan Hofer, of Magrath, Alta., just managed to qualify for the tie-down roping finals in ninth spot after posting a combined time of 21.2 seconds through the first two rounds of competition. During Monday’s finals, he posted the fastest time of 8.6 seconds to edge out Matt Shiozawa, of Chubbuck, Idaho, by just 1/100ths of a second for the overall title.
“I kind of lucked out,” admitted Hofer, who took home a total of $5,111.51 for his efforts. “A few guys in the mud here messed their ties up and calves got up today. That worked out in my favour.
“It’s good to win a big rodeo like Strathmore. Lots of guys are entered (63 in total). They come from the U.S. and all over. To rope against those kinds of guys and to come out on top felt pretty good.”
After two rounds of action in the team-roping competition, header Clay Ullery of Two Hills, Alta., and heeler Riley Wilson of Cardston, Alta., came into the finals as the top-ranked twosome. They maintained that position after posting Monday’s second-best mark of 7.0 seconds to give them a combined overall time of 19.1.
“This is my first time winning a cheque here with Riley,” said Ullery, who won last year’s team-roping title in Strathmore with Medicine Hat’s Kevin Schreiner as his partner.
“I’m always happy to win,” added Wilson, who teamed up with Ullery to win the 2012 Ponoka Stampede title. “I haven’t won here before. Actually, the last two years I took off of rodeo. So, this year I kicked it back off and Clay and I are on a roll now.”
Chuck Schmidt, of Keldron, S.D., was also on a roll during the final two saddle-bronc performances at the Strathmore Stampede. After scoring 85 points atop Weary Joke on Sunday, Schmidt followed that up with an 84.25-point ride aboard Timely Delivery on Heritage Day.
His combined score of 169.25 was good enough to beat second-place finisher Chet Johnson, of Douglas, Wyo., by 1.75 points.
“I don’t know how much money I’ve won because I don’t watch the standings,” said Schmidt, who – for the record – earned $5,260.44, which should help him rise up from 10th in the CPRA standings. “Every once in a while I have to call home and ask my dad how I’m doing and whether I need to hit it harder or take a rest.”
In ladies barrel racing, Callahan Crossley of Hermiston, Ore., had a combined two-race time of 35.643 seconds to edge out Kylie Whiteside, of Longview, Alta., by .223 seconds for top spot overall. Crossley won a total of $8109.12 in prize money, while Whiteside took home $5,461.92.
Kole Ashbacher, of Arrowwood, Alta., won the novice saddle-bronc event with a ride of 72.75 points. Tanner Young, of Fairview, Alta., finished atop the novice bareback standings with a 73.5-point ride, while Red Deer’s Carter Sahli won the boys steer-riding competition with an impressive ride of 79.5 points.