National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association-Alumni (NIRAA) Archives

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National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association-Alumni (NIRAA)

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NIRAA Scholarship Donor Program New Incentives Announced for Scholarship Contributors

story by Merrill Ellis, NIRAA Secretary/Treasurer The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni, Inc (NIRAA) is pleased to announce new donor scholarship benefits for contributors to the 2020 NIRAA Scholarship Fund. Through the generosity of former collegiate rodeo athletes, the NIRAA will award $30,000 in scholarships for the second consecutive year at the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR). A total of 56 scholarships will be given to students at the CNFR Award’s Ceremony June 20, 2020…

Meet the Member Jim Easley

story by Sharon Adams In April of 1949, eight young men from Texas piled into a station wagon in Lubbock and headed for California. The Texas Tech Rodeo Team were going to the Cow Palace in San Francisco. The team members included: Bud Halsell, John Wilson, Jim Easley, Dale Winders, B.F. Yeates, Tommie Bell and Bob Morris. Accompanying them was faculty advisor, Fred Widmeyer. He was not much older than the team members. They filled…

Meet the Member Don Reichert

Newly Elected NIRAA President story by Sharon Adams South Dakotan Don Reichert is the newly elected President of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni and he brings with him a lifetime of leadership and rodeo experience. He was president of his high school FFA chapter, Great Plains Region NIRA Student Director, Advisor for the FFA while teaching vocational agriculture, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Badlands Circuit Manager, Chairman of his church congregation, and Chairman of the…

Meet the Member Roping, Riding & Real Estate with JJ Hampton

story by Christi Braudrick, Southeastern Oklahoma State University rodeo coach If you want to spend a day hanging out with JJ Hampton, a 48 year old- 17 time world champion roper get ready for it to be a long day. JJ is a mom to Cason her 10 year old son, a wife to Ricky Prince and owns her own business, a real estate company- JJ Hampton Realty in Stephenville, Texas. A typical day starts…

Cal Poly: Raising Rodeo Legends

story by Sage Marie Massey Rodeo took California State Polytechnic University by storm on April 8, 1939 when 15 student athletes joined up to compete at the C Bar G Ranch near Victorville, California. Cal Poly has continued this cowboy tradition ever since. In 1949, Cal Poly joined the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA), sending its six-man team to the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) in San Francisco, CA. Cal Poly quickly achieved national recognition…

Willard P. Phillips for the Collegiate Arena

Kansas State Man Goes to First College Finals in 1949 story by Sharon Adams “I like to tell people that Slim Pickens saved my life. He was the clown at the finals at the Cow Palace in San Francisco seventy years ago. I was bucked off my bull and Slim Pickens jumped between me and the bull,” says Willard Phillips. Slim Pickens went on to a long and successful career in the movies but Phillips…

Meet the Member Bob Penfield Cowboy, Bareback Rider, Army Veteran, Auctioneer, Writer

story by Don Reichert In 1951, Bob Penfield, Lemmon, South Dakota and Guy Ham, Rapid City, South Dakota met with the president of South Dakota State College (now University) Brookings, South Dakota to pursue starting a rodeo club. “He didn’t throw us out, but he might as well of because he did hold the door open for us so we could walk out easy. And his last words to us were ‘As far as I’m…

NIRAA Reunion, June 14-15, Casper, WY

story by Merrill Ellis For eight days, the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) will showcase the top National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association (NIRA) athletes competing in nine rodeo events ranging from bull riding to barrel racing in Casper, Wyoming June 9-15. Since 1949, this rodeo finals has taken place in different cities throughout the U.S. The decades of competition will be celebrated at the Ramkota Hotel and Conference Center during the 28th Annual NIRA Alumni, Inc.…

Meet the Rodeo Team Casper College Men’s Rodeo Team

story by Larry Burgess The Casper College men’s rodeo team, coached by Dale Stiles, dominated college rodeo in the mid-1960’s, winning national championships in 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. They were the first two-year institution to win a national championship and the first of any college of any kind to win four consecutive titles. Three of the current National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, Inc. (NIRAA) board members; Ned Londo, Dick Claycomb and myself; Larry Burgess, are…

Meet the Member Lonnie “Lonzo” Hall – 1969 NIRA Champion Bull Rider

by Don Reichert Lonnie Hall was born in 1947 at Gettysburg, South Dakota and grew up on a ranch near Lebanon, South Dakota. He started college at South Dakota State University at Brookings, South Dakota in 1965 and didn’t like it. Lonnie’s parents said if he got good grades the first semester they would buy him a car. Second semester, he had a car and a horse trailer and a really good bay roping horse.…

The University of Arizona Celebrates 80 Years of College Rodeo!

College rodeo has some deep roots at the University of Arizona in Tucson. by Merrill Ellis In March of 1939, the University of Arizona had already held a couple of rodeos for their own students but this was the first year they competed against contestants from another college. Three Occidental College students came to take part! So, come March 16, 2019, the university rodeo will commemorate its 80th home rodeo at the Tucson Rodeo Grounds.…

Why I Joined the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni, Inc. and Why You Should Join

by Cory Ferguson If you rodeoed in college, it was probably one of the most enjoyable times of your life. I know it was for me. That is why I feel compelled to continue to support the NIRA and all that it stands for. The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Alumni, Inc is a great opportunity to maintain and renew your ties with college rodeo. If you are already a member of the NIRAA, it is…