Casey Wonnenberg

The 51st annual Jackrabbit Stampede Rodeo will be held Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10 at the Brookings Swiftel Center.

Fifty SDSU students and 20 different schools are scheduled to compete. Fifteen schools will be represented with complete teams.

Sophomore Joe Gunderson leads the SDSU team. Gunderson finished ninth in bareback riding at the College Finals last year. This year he is ranked 16th at the professional level. For a short period of time he was sitting in first place. The top 15 in each event at the Jackrabbit Stampede will advance to the professional finals.

SDSU has a number of regional leaders. Logan Schlint from Flandreau and Cullin Wilson from Jamestown, N.D. are ranked first and second in team roping heeling. Becky Schrader and Jackie Murry from Isabel are ranked first and second in goat tying.

SDSU Rodeo Coach Terry McCutcheon encourages everyone to attend.

“We’re an official state school, and rodeo is the official state sport,” McCutcheon said.

Tickets are $11 for adults and $7 for SDSU students with an ID.

The first performance is Friday at 7 p.m. and the second performance is at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Finals are Sunday at 1:30 p.m. The top 10 finishers in each event will be eligible to compete in finals.

McCutcheon said that university clubs that wish to participate in the rodeo can call his office at 688-5774.