The Richest Day in Rodeo will be void of Foothills area talent this year.
Bull riders Brock Radford of DeWinton, Jordan Hansen of Okotoks, barrel racer Kylie Whiteside of Longview and bareback rider Pascal Isabelle of Okotoks had no luck on Wild Card Saturday at the Calgary Stampede Rodeo, missing out on the final two berths for Championship Sunday at the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
Radford, who has battled back from an injury-riddled season, was bucked off in just under six seconds by Mr. Legit on Saturday. The DeWinton cowboy leaves the Stampede with $2,500 in winnings from a third place showing on July 10.
Hansen, a Foothills Composite grad now residing in Ponoka, was also thrown off a couple seconds short of eight by Southern Heat. The 2016 Canadian champion earned a $3,250 paycheque for his work at the Stampede.
Defending bull riding champion Marcos Gloria and Meeting Creek's Garrett Green earned the two qualifications to Sunday with scores of 86.5 and 88, respectively.
The youngest competitor in the barrel racing just missed out on Sunday's showdown.
Longview's Whiteside, 19, finished the clover leaf pattern in 17.84 seconds, just .35 seconds off the second place finisher, on Wild Card Saturday.
One of just three Canadians in the field on Saturday, Whiteside turned in her second fastest time of the Stampede with a smooth run second out of the chutes and ultimately had the sixth quickest performance.
Oregon's Callahan Crossley finished first in 17.37 seconds while Amberleigh Moore nabbed the second place finish in 17.50 seconds.
In the bareback, Isabelle scored a 75, doing well to hang on to some wild bucking from Not This Time on Saturday.
The 27-year-old cowboy, originally from Terrebonne, Quebec and now calling Okotoks home, was marking his debut at the Stampede.
Bashaw's Jacob Stemo won the round with a score of 88 while Utah's Mason Clements eked out the second berth to Sunday with a score of 87.
A thrilling finish to the steer wrestling saw Donalda's Curtis Cassidy fight off a challenging week to score a time of 4.0, finishing with the second and final berth to Mississippi's Will Lummus, who turned in a 3.9 second performance.
The saddle bronc event saw former Stampede champion Cody DeMoss of Lousiana and Texan Sterling Crawley advance through a competitive Wild Card.
In the tie-down roping, Texan Timber Moore and Idaho's Matt Shiozawa earned the two qualifications with identical scores of seven seconds flat.
Championship Sunday gets underway at 1:30 p.m. At stake is a $100,000 paycheque for the Stampede champions in each event.
For more information go to calgarystampede.com
