2014 Calgary Stampede Team Penning Results- 551 Teams Battle For Prize Purse of $272,787

The 2014 Calgary Stampede, also known as “The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth,” began July 4th and will continue throughout the next nine days in Alberta. Attendance for the second day of competition was a whopping 119,530 visitors!

Plenty of equestrian events will take place throughout the Stampede like…

Horse Haven Stables-  18 breeds will be on display in addition to presentations, demonstrations, an activity zone, and much more.

Cowboy Up Challenge– an extreme obstacle course competition for horsemen- July 5-7

Cutting Horse Competition– July 7-9

Draft Horse Town– hands-on activities and exhibits about these gentle giants

The Team Penning competition is complete. Scroll below to view results.

July 4th, 2014

Calgary – It’s an old question: is the energy of youth superior to the wisdom gained by experience? Apparently, if you combine the two, like the winning combination Friday night in the 14 Class Team Penning finals, it’s a formula for success.

At 61, Pat Bolin of Stettler has been Team Penning for many years, winning the Open class in 2012. On the other end of the age scale is Carstairs teenager Josie Abraham, who is 16 years old, although she’s been penning for ten years. “It’s my first buckle at Stampede,” says Josie, who has made it into the top 20 once before. “It’s very exciting.”

Bridging Bolin and Abraham is Lesley Marsh, 35, who won a regional championship with Abraham and has done a fair bit of penning teamed with Bolin, too. Marsh, from Arrowwood, AB, has been competing at the Stampede for 12 years, winning a buckle in 2004. Since then, she says, she’s scored a lot of seconds and thirds, but had to wait ten years for another Stampede win.

The Stampede’s Team Cattle Penning Competition has drawn 551 teams from across the continent this year, with a total prize purse of $272,787.

A total of 107 teams began the 14 Class competition with two rounds of qualifying on Thursday at the Okotoks Agricultural Society. With a winning aggregate time of 125.79 seconds on 12 head of cattle, Abraham, Bolin and Marsh will split a cheque for $16,938 while also collecting Stampede championship buckles.

Graham Armstrong and his twin brother Justin, who won 14 Class buckles in 2012 at Calgary, were forced to settle for a Stampede reserve championship. With a time of 131.18 seconds, the Armstrongs, who are based in Armstrong, BC, and Ben Thorlakson of Carstairs, AB, will split the runner-up cheque of $11,292.

Team Cattle Penning, a race against the clock, allows a team of three riders on horseback 60 seconds to separate three specifically identified cattle from a herd of 30 and direct them into a 20-foot-by-20-foot pen at the opposite end of the arena. Teamwork is paramount, with all three riders working in harmony to cut out the correct cattle and drive them to the pen. Teams of riders enter the Stampede’s four classes based on relative skill and experience — in ascending order from 7 Class, to 10 Class, to 14 Class, to the travelling professionals of the Open Class.

In the hard-fought 7 Class, Jeff Johnstone of High River, AB, teamed with Mason Cockx and Kent Hillard, both of Millarville, AB, to take the Stampede buckles and split the winner’s purse of $21,044. The winning aggregate time was 150.90.

It’s a bit of a haul from Quesnel, BC, to Calgary, but the trip proved worthwhile for the trio of Spencer and Leonard Gamache and Sue Norquay, whose time of 152.35 made them reserve champions in 7 Class. Of the 154 teams entered in Class 7, all but the top 20 were eliminated in two preliminary rounds held in Okotoks on Thursday.

July 5th, 2014

OPEN TEAM PENNING RESULTS

CHAMPION TEAM:     Devin Antony, Calgary.

Kirk Cottrell, Millarville

Donna O’Reilly, Millarville

Aggregate time over 4 runs:  131.12 seconds

RESERVE CHAMPIONS:

Larry Cressman, DeWinton

Wallace McComish, Stettler

James Greer, Hemet, Calif.

Aggregate time over 4 runs:  131.93 seconds

The team of Donna O’Reilly, Kirk Cottrell and Devin Antony have been penning together for ten years.  That’s also how long it had been since O’Reilly won her last Stampede buckle.  On Saturday night, everything went their way and they all won buckles, and split a cheque for $12,185, after four rounds of Open Penning action.  The team’s margin of victory was only .81 seconds.

A total of 68 teams began the Open Class competition with two rounds of qualifying on Thursday at the Okotoks Agricultural Society.  Coming into the Stampede today, the Cottrell/Antony/O’Reilly combo was tenth of the 20 teams who made it to the final day.  With each team penning three cattle each, tenth meant they had been able to watch the 30-cow herd and determine exactly which trio of cattle they had to work with.  When all three broke out at the same time, Antony said, “It was a pinch-yourself moment.  When you have teammates with the composure to handle it, it’s fantastic.”  All three animals were penned in a blazingly-quick 24.89 seconds and the team’s effort in the final round was just good enough to eke out the win.

In the 20 times she has been coming to Stampede, O’Reilly said, this is only her second champion’s buckle.  “This means a lot.  We’ve been trying for ten years,” she said.  It was even bigger for Antony and Cottrell, who had never won a Stampede title before.  “This is the biggest win since I started,” Antony said, while Cottrell called the victory “a real dream come true.  It was on my bucket list.  It’s the only thing I hadn’t won in penning.”

Last year, Wallace McComish and Larry Cressman were on the team that won the Open championship.  This year the duo, along with James Greer, had to settle for the Reserve title – which was still good for a $8,123 cheque.

About the Calgary Stampede

As we enter our second century, the Calgary Stampede celebrates the people, the animals, the land, the traditions and the values that make up the unique spirit of the west.  The Calgary Stampede contributes to the quality of life in Calgary and southern Alberta through our world-renowned 10-day Stampede, year-round facilities, western events and several youth and agriculture programs. Exemplifying the theme We’re Greatest Together; we are a volunteer-supported, not-for-profit community organization that preserves and promotes western heritage and values.  All revenue is reinvested into Calgary Stampede programs and facilities.