The Canadian Team Cattle Penning Association (CTCPA) hosted the 2017 National Finals Oct. 6-9 in Calgary, and Quesnel’s competitors were in fine form.
Local cattle penners including Gabrielle Fouty, Spencer Gamache, Sue Norquay, Len Gamache, Danielle Gamache and Laurie Anderson attended the event, competing as part of a number of different teams across six categories.
A cattle penning team is made up of three riders, who must separate certain cows and herd them into a pen. The fastest time wins.
Each rider is ranked, and the sum of their rankings determines which class they compete in.
In the 8-shootout category, Gabrielle, Spencer and teammate Micaela Cheek came second, winning $11,448.87 total. They completed the event in 97.11 seconds.
In the 5-class competition, Danielle, Len and teammate Brittney McIntyre won second place; Gabrielle, Danielle and Len won third; and Gabrielle also took fourth with teammates Tricia Esworthy and Brittney McIntyre. The teams’ times were 130.81, 147.86 and 159.23 seconds respectively.
Quesnel rider Laurie Anderson competed with Angela Pigeon from Prince George and Laura Kokesch from Sundre, Alberta, to place first, taking home a prize totalling $36,942.63. They completed their competition in 129.04 seconds, beating the second place riders by almost 20 seconds.
An all-Quesnel team made up of Danielle, Len and Sue took fourth place in the 10-class with their time of 162.61 seconds. They won $3,324.75 each for their efforts.
In the 14-class, Quesnel’s Spencer and Sue competed with Justin Armstrong to place second, winning $6,894.50 each for their time of 119.55 seconds.
Finally, competing in the century-and-a-half class, Len won second with his teammates Brian Watt and Owen Weekes, for their time of 71.24 seconds.
The three-day event had more than $475,000 in cash and prizes up for grabs. First place winners took home buckles, and second place received blankets along with the cash prizes.