Austin Covington of Omak was tossed from his bull ride on Saturday at the Memorial Day weekend Methow Valley Rodeo, but came back on Sunday to win the competition.
“It’s the largest crowd I’ve ever seen,” said longtime resident and Methow Valley Rodeo parking lot attendant Roger Hammer. “Never seen so many cars.”
Hammer was scurrying about the mass of vehicles on Saturday of Memorial Weekend, looking for holes in which to plug new rodeo arrivals. While no official attendance numbers made available, the crowd looked pretty close to last year’s estimate of 650.
Indeed, the hillside adjacent the arena was packed with spectators on the cloudy Saturday afternoon session at the rodeo grounds near Big Twin Lake. The afternoon featured saddle bronc riding, barrel racing, three bull riders and a slew of junior events, “mutton busting” being a fan favorite.
The Northwest Renegade Cowgirls Drill team from the Lynden area entertained the crowd with a routine of precision choreography between events. The troupe, formed in late 2014, executes a number of crossover moves in figure-eight fashion, weaving each of the eight performers skillfully through the center of the arena.
Tom Graves, found at his ringside seat in the rodeo office, believes he has actually attended every rodeo since the inaugural 1972 event, and that it was Claude Miller who might have missed one or two, in contrast to what was reported in a previous edition.
We’ll leave that for Graves, who is 92, and Miller to settle.
“This ain’t my first rodeo,” said Graves with a crack of a smile as he climbed aboard his pickup truck at the Saturday event. He might be right. By our count, between Miller and Graves, they have almost 200 of these local gatherings under their belts, chaps, saddles or whatever. The two valley natives have been a key part of the tradition since its inception.
Saturday bulls
The bulls won. Only three riders participated, none making the required 8 seconds to score points, so no winner was declared. Austin Covington had perhaps the most dramatic impromptu dismount of the trio, doing a full back layout, unceremoniously landing flat, yet safely, on his back. He made a great comeback on Sunday, though, riding long enough to score 81 points and win the competition.
White on to high school National Rodeo Championships
Cody White, a recent graduate of Liberty Bell High School and Twisp native, took 1st place in the Washington State High School Rodeo Association’s season-long saddle bronc points race. He also placed 2nd in bare back riding and 7th in bull riding to claim 3rd in overall points for the 2022 season.
White has qualified and been invited to Gillette, Wyoming, for the National Championships in mid-July. He will also head for Winnemucca, Nevada, later in the summer for the Silver State International Rodeo, where he will compete in the bull riding competition.
Locals Mackenzie Scott, Nicholas White and Sam Wottlin also represented the Methow Valley on the spring season rodeo circuit. Scott participated in barrels and poles, White’s cousin Nicholas rode saddle bronc and Wottlin served on the rough stock “pick up” team, gathering broncos and bulls after they had dispatched their passengers.
