The Nicola Valley was well-represented at at the British Columbia Rodeo Association Finals in Quesnel on the Sept. 15 weekend.
Derek Mobbs was the model of consistency in recording a pair of first-place finishes en route to winning the overall tie-down roping championship.
Riding his 18-year-old, bay quarterhorse Ringer, Mobbs put down times of 11.6, 13.4 and 13.6 seconds in his three rounds to take the title away from season-leader Riley Isnardy from Cache Creek.
“It was a good weekend for sure,” said Mobbs on Monday. “I just roped like I’d roped all year. They were all businessman’s runs – not overly quick – but with the pen of calves that were there, it all sort of worked out.”
A 12-year BCRA veteran, Mobbs went in to the Finals sitting fourth, and a tad short on practice due to his heavy workload at Aspen Planers’ Site 3 log yard here in Merritt.
“The nice thing is the Finals are sudden death. You start fresh, and just about anything can happen.”
The father/daughter pair of Grant and Fallon Fosbery were also solid finishers at the BCRA Finals. Grant wound up third overall in steer wrestling, while 15-year-old Fallon was just two places back in fifth in ladies’ barrel racing.
“I should have been competing in the junior girls’ barrels,” conceded the younger Fosbery, “but I decided to enter ladies because there was more money up, and there’s tougher competition.”
When it comes to barrel racing, Fallon said it often comes down to the arena conditions and the luck of the draw.
“The ground for barrel racing has a lot to do with how you perform. They ran five barrel racers [between rakings], and the ground at Quesnel got really deep by the fourth and fifth riders each time. Unfortunately, I had to go fifth, third and fifth in my three runs. I had some pretty rough ground.”
As for her dad’s strong showing in the rough-and-tumble steer wrestling event, Fallon said, “He did really good. I was impressed.”
Young Joe Roberson from the Portland Division of the Douglas Lake Ranch was pretty impressive in the saddle bronc event at the BCRA Finals. His winning score of 76 on day one of competition helped him finish third overall for the weekend, not bad for the 20-year-old in his first year on the provincial senior rodeo circuit.
