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 WPRA
Barrel Racer Sherrylynn Johnson has had roller coaster
couple weeks and quite honestly is just luckily to be
alive. Johnson, of Henryetta, Okla., recently won the
30th Annual Hamel (Minn.) Rodeo and Bull Ridin' Bonanza
aboard the eight-year old bay gelding Leading Tradition,
that she calls J.T., with a time of 14.66 seconds, just
a week after her and her husband, PRCA tie-down roper
Mike Johnson was involved in a wreck in Canada.
"We were on the road between
Sundre and High River and Mike was driving and I was
sleeping in the passenger seat," said Sherrylynn
when describing the wreck, which happened during the
day. "Mike hollered at me to watch out and I woke
up and just saw trees coming at us. I had no idea what
had happened but just kept telling him to keep it straight.
"When we finally got slowed
down and was stopped by a tree, Mike said that a pickup
just pulled right in front of us and he had nowhere
to go. The guy said he just didn't see us."
The bright side of it all was that
the horses were not injured nor were Mike or Sherrylynn.
However, their four day old truck was completely totaled
as was their trailer. Luckily the closest dealership
helped the out by loaning them a truck and trailer,
so that they could get to Ponoka to begin their Fourth
of July run and make arrangements for another rig to
get to them.
"We didn't really have a lot
of time to think about it all," Sherrylynn said.
"We just got what we needed for the next few days
out of the trailer and we were off on our Fourth of
July run. You just have to roll with the punches out
here on the road and make the best of the situation."
Sherrylynn and her mount, J.T.,
has definitely made the best of the situations this
year and are currently ranked 16th in the WPRA NFR standings
with $30,364 in just their first year as partners. Johnson
received the horse, which had never experienced the
rodeo world before, in January from owner April Trusty
of Olive Branch, Miss. They first competed together
in Odessa, Texas, and then Denver, Colo., before winning
the opening round at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo
in a time of 16.95 seconds.
"With a young horse like J.T.
it is a little trial and error at these pro rodeos,"
Johnson said. "We have had great success in the
rounds but just having a little trouble finishing at
the rodeos to place in the averages but we are getting
there. I have been pleased with the year as I have $30,000
won so far and definitely have put myself in the hunt
for the Wrangler NFR."
This was the second straight year
for Johnson to include the Hamel Rodeo on her schedule.
In 2009, she placed but this year she captured the title
outdistancing Sandi Brandli, who finished with a 14.75
second run.
"That is a fun little rodeo
and the committee works hard to make the ground good,"
said Johnson, about the rodeo committee that has twice
(2006, 2009) been chosen the WPRA Medium Rodeo Committee
of the Year. "They have a great hospitality area
as well and you can also hit a couple other rodeos in
that area, which makes it a pretty nice rodeo run."
Johnson added another $2,284 to
her earnings and was pleased with how J.T. handled the
narrow arena. They also finished second in Spooner,
Wis., with a time of 17.58 seconds, pocketing another
$2,177. Bobbie Jo Bohlman won the rodeo in a time of
17.47 seconds.
"It takes about a year to season
these horses to the rodeo world as everywhere we go
there is something new and different, so they just don't
know what to think," she said.
In addition to J.T., Johnson is
also hauling her eight year-old gelding Snoopy that
she used in 2007 at the Wrangler NFR when he was just
five. In fact, prior to having to call on his services
in Las Vegas due to circumstances beyond Johnson's control,
Snoopy had only been to two ProRodeos. Johnson is looking
to return to Las Vegas in December and hopes for a much
different outcome than her last trip in 2007.
The Hamel Rodeo & Bull Ridin'
Bonanza is made possible by the Hamel Volunteer Fire
Department, the Hamel Lions Club, the Hamel Athletic
Club, the Heinzen-Ditter VFW Post, the John Pohlker
American Legion Post 394 and the I-94 West Chamber of
Commerce. All proceeds are shared equally by the six
organizations and during the first 29 years over $819,000
have been distributed to these organizations to use
as they see fit in community service.
Each year Justin Boots and the WPRA
sponsor the best footing award in the 12 PRCA/WPRA Circuits.
The program awards rodeo committees who put forth an
extra effort to ensure that their rodeo has the safest,
most consistent, and best ground conditions possible.
The Hamel Rodeo has won the award on three different
occasions - 2001, 2005-06 - representing the Great Lakes
Circuit.
The Hamel Rodeo is the largest rodeo
in the State of Minnesota on the basis of both total
added money and total payoff. This year contestants
took home approximately $120,000. For more information
on this rodeo visit www.hamelrodeo.org.
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