MSU-Northern Rodeo teams host events in Havre

Montana State University-Northern Rodeo teams will be hosting a variety of events in Havre - including a new PRCA-sanctioned rodeo - leading up to the teams' participation in the annual spring rodeo in Bozeman.

Roping

Friday Night Roping Jackpot will kick off the events this Friday at the Bigger Better Barn on the Great Northern Fairgrounds with open team roping and breakaway roping.

"We're hoping the weather cooperates," Northern's head coach Doug Kallenberger said, because the event will only be held if the temperature is at least 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

The $50 entry gets team ropers two entries in a #12 equalizer pick-one, draw-one format, which means each roper gets one run with their choice of partner and one with a partner drawn from the entrants. Breakaway ropers will pay $20 for two head, and payout will be on a two-head average.

With no pre-registration requirements, cash-only entry begins at 5:30 p.m., team roping at 6:30 and breakaway roping after the last team finishes. Concessions will be sold at the arena.

Youth Basketball

The Sunday Youth Basketball Shootout is the only non-horse competition the teams are hosting as a fundraiser this spring, but it will give girls in third through eighth grades a chance to play some 5-on-5 basketball.

This one-day round robin competition will be held at Northern's Armory Gymnasium starting at 8 a.m., and gives each team three games for $150 per team entry fee. Admission is $5.

Teams will be broken into three divisions - 3rd-4th Grade; 5th-6th Grade; and 7th-8th Grade - and they need to pre-register by contacting Kallenberger at 945-1329.

PRCA Action

The showcase event will be the PRCA Extreme Bares and Broncs Challenge set for March 29-30 in the Bigger Better Barn, Kallenberger said, adding that this competition will replace their annual BullDazzle fundraising event.

"It's going to have the same feel as the BullDazzle," he said, "but bigger."

While the rough stock rides start at 7:30 p.m. each night, the spectator action begins at 6:30 p.m. with bidding in a Calcutta, Kallenberger said, and both evenings will include food and beer concessions, a big screen TV and a fully heated barn.

Pre-sold tickets are $18 each and tickets at the door will be $20, but youth 10 and under will get in free, he added. Tickets can be purchased at Independence Bank, Stockman Bank and Norman's Ranch and Sportswear, as well as from any Northern Rodeo member.

Prize money from the rodeo, which has a $10,000 added payout for each event, will count toward the 2019 National Finals Rodeo and Rookie of the Year standings for the competitors. PRCA cardholders can sign up from noon March 18 to noon March 19.

"Some of the top bareback and saddle bronc riders in the world should be in Havre," Kallenberger said.

Open Rodeo

The 2019 Spring Open Rodeo is set for April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Bigger Better Barn.

Admission is $5 per adult and youth under 18 get in free. Food and beer concessions will be available.

Events will include bareback, saddle bronc, bull riding, steer wrestling, tie-down roping, ladies breakaway roping, goat tying, barrel racing and team roping. The first round of team roping will start at 2 p.m. with the top 10 competing in the night show, and if slack is needed for the barrel racing, it will start at 4:30 p.m.

Entry information can be found on the MSU Northern Rodeo Facebook page or by contacting Kallenberger at 945-1329 or [email protected].

Fundraiser Proceeds

Proceeds from all four events in this four-week period will go toward MSU-Northern Rodeo scholarships and expenses, Kallenberger said.

"One-hundred percent of the money we make goes, number one, for scholarships and, number two, for travel and for stock and things like that, expenses," he said. "But first and foremost it's for scholarships."

The team maintains some roping and rough stock during the school year for practice and the university pays expenses such as gas and hotel while the teams are on the road for competition in their Big Sky Region. Eight colleges and universities in Montana and Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming comprise the region. Top qualifiers also travel to the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyoming, which will be June 7-15 this year.

After working these fundraising events, the Northern Rodeo men's and women's teams will be heading to the 2019 MSU Spring Rodeo at the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman April 11-14.