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North
Platte, Neb.-Two WPRA ladies from opposite ends of the
experience spectrum shared the title at the NEBRASKALand
Days and Buffalo Bill Rodeo in North Platte, Neb., June
17-20.
Delores Toole has been there, done
that. The Manter, Kan., cowgirl and her great gelding,
Paa Rocket have been to three Wrangler National Finals
Rodeos, three Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeos,
numerous Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeos, and even the
2002 Winter Olympics exhibition rodeo outside of Salt
Lake City in Farmington, Utah. They were DNCFR Champs
in 2001 and have won the $50,000 Bonus Round at the
Calgary Stampede.
On the other hand, Korrina Lynn
Hughes has been on the rodeo trail for just two years.
The Nebraska native makes her home now in Glenwood,
Iowa, just 20 minutes south of Omaha and is making just
her second run at a Prairie Circuit Finals qualification.
Despite the difference in rodeo
years, the pair got the same results at North Platte.
Clocking identical times of 17.62 seconds in the great
big North Platte arena, the ladies each took home nearly
$1,900 in championship points. For Toole, the win moved
her up to second in the circuit behind World leader
Mary Burger. For Hughes, it put her into the hunt for
a first time qualification to the circuit finals rodeo.
"It would mean so much to me
to make the circuit finals," Hughes says. Her last
season to try for the finals ended with an injury to
her horse late in the year. That misfortune won't happen
again as Hughes has a pair of tough ponies to choose
from at each rodeo.
Smoke, a 12-year old gelding, is
her "small pen" horse but he got the call
in North Platte after Brown Eyed Speedy -better known
as Speedy - cut his foot on a fence just two days prior
to her competition and had to be cast to make sure it
heals properly.
"I almost turned out,"
Hughes laughs about her trepidation; she doesn't run
Smoke in big pens as he has a tendency to build too
much speed into the first barrel and misses the turn.
"I know I had just started
to lope when we go to the eyes because I was worried
about having too much speed into first," she says.
"I am just shocked that we won the rodeo."
Hughes' rodeo travels are limited.
She and husband Allan, a PRCA team roper, run a construction
business and have two small children, Logan, 3, and
Haylee Mae, just 1. She also works part time at the
local golf course.
"We hit what we can but it's
tough with our jobs and the kids," Hughes says,
"but maybe when the kids get older, where it's
easier to travel with them, we can go more."
While Hughes is hoping for a first
circuit finals berth and the chance to haul more, Toole
and the 17-year old Paa are enjoying a slower pace.
"We have a big Fourth of July
planned-Santa Fe, Greeley, Livingston, Red Lodge, Cody-but
that will be our one big run of the year," Toole
says. "We stay closer to home and I try not to
line up too many runs in a row. It works out better
that way."
Toole makes North Platte almost
every year and was pleased to walk away with a share
of the title. "I think I caught a break with the
ground, it rained and it always makes it better when
it's wet," Toole was characteristically humble.
"I have to thank the committee
for putting on such a nice rodeo, and for the nice job
they did with the ground," Toole says. "They
were trying to pack it and just really tried to make
it the best it could be."
The Buffalo Bill Rodeo is just a
part of the larger NEBRASKALand Days celebration which
began in 1965 to promote tourism and commemorate the
heritage of the state. With over 80 events held inside
of two weeks on a budget of nearly $1 million, it attracts
about 100,000 visitors to North Platte and is Nebraska's
"official celebration." For more information,
visit www.nebraskalanddays.com.
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