CAC rodeo team hosts its own event this weekend
By SUZANNE ADAMS-OCKRASSA, Staff Writer Pinal Central

CASA GRANDE — The members of the Central Arizona College rodeo team were working hard Tuesday evening in the college's new arena to prepare for this weekend's annual CAC Rodeo.

The gates at Casa Grande's Ed Hooper Rodeo Park will open each day at 1 p.m. and events will start at 2 p.m. each day. Admission is $5 per person. Children under 12 are free.

New this year, the team will be handing out buckles to the winners of each competition each day, said Skyla Teel, one of the team's co-coaches. The other team coach is Kayse Mahoney. Usually the rodeo only offers buckles to the top winner of each event at the end of the rodeo. This year's buckles also include a design that honors the 50th anniversary of CAC.

There will also be several raffles at this year's event, including a pair of Justin boots and a pair of Cinch jeans.

This year's CAC team includes 40 students who will be competing against teams from eight other colleges and universities from Arizona, New Mexico and other states. The women's team is currently ranked third in the nation and the men's team fourth in the nation, Teel said.

"We have an incredibly diverse team," Teel said. The team includes students from several Native American tribes and from areas as far away as Alaska and Canada. All members supply and take care of their own horses.

The students practice their events nearly every day by themselves and practice as a team twice a week, Teel said. For the past couple of weeks the students have enjoyed practicing in the new rodeo arena at the college. It was finished a couple of weeks ago and replaces an arena that dated back to the 1980s, she said.

Nearly all of the students on the team have been involved in rodeo since they were very young, Teel said.

Freshman Annabelle Hampton, who competes in breakaway roping, goat tying, barrel racing and team roping, said she started competing in rodeo events when she was 9 years old and has been practicing with the CAC team since high school.

"This is just a great team," she said.

She got interested in horseback riding when her family took a vacation several years ago that offered trail riding. She fell in love with the horses and kept asking to go back for more trail rides. When her family got home from vacation, her parents contacted a neighbor who had horses and signed Hampton up for riding lessons.

Clay Elkington, a junior at the college, got into rodeo as a kid while training horses and ponies with his family. He competes in team roping, calf roping and bulldogging or steer wrestling.

John "Gordo" Gaona, who is also a junior, got into the rodeo scene at age 5. His specialty is team roping. He joined the CAC rodeo team after watching his brother compete with the team.

Hampton, Elkington and Gaona said they all look for the same thing in a rodeo horse, one that will do the same thing and act the same way each time they compete.

"Having a fast horse is nice, but I'm really looking for a horse that will do the job the same way every time," Elkington said.

Gaona said he also looks for a strong horse with a sound mind.

All three students are looking forward to competing at this year's rodeo