Approximately 2,400 fans attended a balmy opening night to the 36th annual Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo at the Horseman's Sports Arena Thursday night.
That number, said longtime rodeo committee member Jim Miskimins, is just about right for the rodeo's first act, especially considering the reported 89-degree temperature at the start of the 8 p.m. opener.
"I'd say that's comparable to past years for a Thursday," said Miskimins, a 17-year committee member.
The nearly 3/4-full crowd was treated to some of the Badlands Circuit's top cowboys and cowgirls in the opener with the circuit's all-around leader, Huron's Tater Hins, competing in both the bareback and bull riding competitions.
His only score was a 69 in the bareback, where he currently is ranked No. 9 in the circuit.
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Timber Lake's Corey Maier and Pierre's Aaron Brewer both scored a 73 in the bull riding Thursday, the only scores in the event, which featured Charlie Zoss of Forestburg and Hins, who, along with Maier and Brewer, are all ranked in the top six in the event as of Thursday evening.
According to ESPN.com, Zoss was No. 1 in the circuit heading into Thursday's rodeo with 6,195 points, followed by Brewer at No. 2 with 5,885 points. Maier was fourth with 5,063 points and Hins was sixth with 4,512 points.
Brewer was the first to score Thursday, riding out his eight-seconds on Baby Blues.
Brewer, who has performed at the Corn Palace Stampede since 1998, said the bull had the potential to put up a winning score, but didn't do it Thursday.
"He was the bull to have," said Brewer, 26, adding that while the 73 won the performance on Thursday, it likely won't hold out as the top score throughout the next three nights. "It usually seems like 74 wins it. (The 73) was worth what the bull gave me. He just had a bad trip tonight."
James Thompson of Mandan, N. D., won the evening's opening event, turning in an 82 in the bareback, followed by Dan Miller of Raleigh, N. D., with a 76. Camp Crook's Matt Gilbert took the opening night's performance in a penalty-plagued steer wrestling competition with a time of 7.9 seconds. Of the 11 cowboys in the event, three turned in no times and four more were penalized 10 seconds for breaking the barrier.
Bill Huber's 8.8 took the 13-person tie-down roping field while Jeff Johnston of Stapleton, Neb., and Mark Swanson of Arthur, Neb., paired up to win the team roping competition in six seconds flat.
In the women's barrel racing, Whitewood's Michelle Alley bested the eight-woman field with a time of 16.72, just ahead of Mayer, Minn., native Heidi Meuwissen's 16.81.
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The rodeo continues tonight and runs through Sunday with all events beginning at 8 p.m.
Notes: Mitchell native Jerry Norton is back again as one of the two bullfighters, joined this year by Chris "Hodgie" Aman of Rapid City. Dale Woodard finishes out the trio as the barrelman and clown and also has his own specialty act midway through the rodeo. He also lends his expertise during the team roping competition along with announcer Rorey Lemmel of Rapid City.
