BROOKINGS, S.D. — South Dakota State University rodeo athletes kicked off their spring season with their home rodeo on March 31 and April 1, welcoming around 275 competitors from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
“It’s a lot of fun, definitely a lot of fun to do especially having all the energy of your home crowd and being in your own arena,” said Chance Grill, SDSU calf roping, team roping and steer wrestling competitor.
For sophomore Rayha Richert, the stampede is her favorite rodeo of the season.
“This rodeo is personally my favorite, which is slightly biased because it’s my home rodeo, but it’s always a lot of fun,” Richert said.
This rodeo brings in crowds of between 3,500 or 4,500 spectators to the stands.
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“The Brookings crowd has been around forever, for rodeos and everything like that, especially following SDSU rodeo, the whole region knows that the Brookings crowd is going to be electric, and they know rodeo,” said Ron Skovly, SDSU rodeo coach.
Being a rodeo athlete in college can be challenging, but these competitors say it is worth it.
“I am an exercise science major, so I have a lot of school, plus doing three events, and it gets really stressful with practice and everything, but once you get a system down it flows pretty easy,” Richert said. “I have been doing rodeo since my seventh grade year and it has just grown to be my favorite thing and I don’t think I could see myself not doing it.”
“I’m a student athlete,” Grill said. “I mean I get to do what I love to do and then get to go to school while I am doing it.”
Last fall, the team competed in five rodeos, and now they are able to get back into the rodeo circuit with their home rodeo.
“Half time is over, and we are just kind of getting right back into it again and the team is sitting up in there, top five in the region. But yeah, we’ve got some checking up to do. But we will get there by the end of this season,” Skovly said.
Having a rodeo team on campus helps to carry on the tradition of the state’s official sport, a tradition they hope to continue for generations.
“Just the tradition of where we came from and where we are going now,” Skovly said. “The boosters have grown in the last three or four years, just huge, so we are getting a lot more support and have got plans for facilities in the future.”
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The SDSU rodeo team finished the rodeo with the women’s team placing second overall and the men’s team placing fifth overall.
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