Former Sam Houston State student having big year in team roping

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September 1, 2010

By Brett Hoffman Rodeo Insider The Huntsville Item Wed Sep 01, 2010, 10:31 PM CDT

PUEBLO, Colo. — Colby Lovell is having a banner season in team roping.

Earlier this week, the former Sam Houston state student and his partner, Kory Koontz, won the title at the Colorado State Fair Rodeo in Pueblo, Colo.

Lovell, 23, who lives in Madisonville, earned $4,040 after he and Koontz turned in the fastest aggregate time (11.0 seconds) on two runs at the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association show.

That pushes Lovell’s season earnings in the team roping heading to more than $67,000. That’s way more than enough regular season earnings to advance Lovell to his first National Finals Rodeo.

The Wrangler National Finals, which is scheduled for Dec. 2-11, will feature the top 15 in each event.

Death of a legend — Smart Little Lena, the National Cutting Horse Association’s first Triple Crown winner, died on Aug,. 30. The famous breeding stallion was 31.

In late 1982, the Smart Little Lena and rider Bill Freeman won the Fort Worth-based NCHA Futurity, the sport’s premier show and the first jewel of the Triple Crown Series. In 1983, Smart Little Lena won the Super Stakes and then tied for the win at the NCHA Derby.

Only two other horses have won the Triple Crown. Docs Okie Quixote and Joe Heim accomplished the feat in 1983-84 and Chiquita Pistol and Tag Rice won all three jewels in 2002-03.

According to Smart Little Lena’s website, the stallion earned $743,275 after competing in eight shows.

Martin to be honored — Keith Martin, the executive director of the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo, will be honored for his innovative leadership during the 22nd annual National Cowboys Symposium and Celebration in Lubbock.

The celebration is scheduled for Sept. 9-12 at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Martin will be honored during a Sept. 9 ceremony.

With Martin at the helm, the San Antonio rodeo’s purse now hovers around $1 million, which makes the rodeo the PRCA’s second highest paying regular-season show. Officials also contract tougher bucking stock from renowned outfits such as the Calgary Stampede. Only credentialed cowboys such as former National Finals Rodeo qualifiers Ryan Gray and Wes Stevenson are invited to compete.

As a result, the San Antonio rodeo, which traditionally is conducted in February, has been selected as the PRCA’s Large Indoor Rodeo of the Year for the past five years.

For more information on the Lubbock-based western celebration, visit www.cowboy.org.

PBR update — Oklahoma cowboy Austin Meier won the title at the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Tough Series tour stop last weekend in Ontario, Calif. after posting an 88.75 in the finals and finishing as the only cowboy to stay on all three bulls.

Meier pocketed $33,456 and he ranks second in the Ford Series world-title race with 9004.25, 218 points behind No. 1 ranked Renato Nunes, who has 9,222.25.

A milestone victory — A win at the Lynden (Wash.) PRCA rodeo last weekend helped Billy Etbauer become the first PRCA contestant to bank $3 million in a single event.

The $1,495 he earned in Lynden, plus another $1,141 check for finishing fourth in the Horse Heaven Round-Up in Kennewick, Wash., brought Etbuar’s career earnings in saddle bronc riding to $3,002,158.

Etbauer, 47, who lives in Edmond, Okla., won the Lynden rodeo after making an 80-point ride on the aptly named saddle bronc Showtime of the Northern Cross Rodeo Company string.

Overall, Etbauer has earned $3,003,492 (He also pockeed $1,334 in team roping in 1992). He and roping superstar Trevor Brazile are the only two PRCA cowboys who have earned more than $3 million.

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