Commerce, Texas -- A sold-out crowd, championship performances, and a surge of community pride marked the debut of The Spur Expo, as East Texas A&M University hosted its first collegiate rodeo at the new venue last Friday and Saturday night.
Almost 2,000 rodeo fans packed “The Spur” over the weekend, signaling a strong start to a facility that is expected to become a regional hub for rodeo, agriculture and large-scale events.
Inaugural event draws region's best
The rodeo brought together more than 10 colleges and universities, comprising nearly 400 competitors from the Southern Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association, making it one of the largest collegiate rodeos in East Texas.
For the first time, the Lion Rodeo Team competed in Commerce, an important shift for a program that previously relied on off-campus venues.
“Most of the time when a university hosts a rodeo, they have to rent a space,” said Lion Rodeo Head Coach Dameon White. “Now we're not going to have to go off campus. That gives more students, faculty and staff the opportunity to come and see what these student-athletes do on a day-to-day basis.”
The community shows up
The inaugural rodeo doubled as a major community event, drawing visitors from across the region and boosting local business activity.
“Our community is incredible,” said roper Ty Johnson. “The fact that they'll come out here and pay to get a ticket and cheer us on—it's really nice that we have that kind of support.”
Dr. Bryan Rank, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, said the turnout reflects growing interest in both the program and the facility.
“The community support for what we're doing both in agriculture and at East Texas A&M has just been tremendous,” he said.
Lion Rodeo competes on home stage
For student-athletes, competing in front of a home crowd brought new energy and visibility.
“It's so exciting. This is our first run here, and I think we all have a few nerves, but it's going to be fun,” said breakaway roper Jakelyn Primrose.
“The best thing about it is the university support,” added barrel racer Natalie Shaw before the competition began. “I'm excited to see the stands packed.”
Lions deliver in debut
The rodeo was highlighted by two individual event wins by Lion riders. Primrose won the Breakaway Roping event, while Tad Williams took first place in the Steer Wrestling event.
Primrose, who won her event with a two-run total time of just 5.7 seconds, said she felt comfortable under the bright lights and in front of the packed crowd during her winning runs.
“I felt pretty laid back,” Primrose said. “I just needed to go out there and do my job.”
Williams took the victory in Steer Wrestling with a lightning-fast time of 10 seconds across two rounds. He was ecstatic to win in front of the home crowd.
“This is an amazing facility,” Williams said. “To get the win in front of all these fans was really fun.”
Other standout finishers include Tatum Roberts, who backed up Williams in second place in Steer Wrestling; Alee Andrews, who tied for third in Breakaway Roping; and Kyler Ohrt, who finished fourth in Team Roping paired with Wharton County Community College's Buck Garza.
The Lion men's team finished third in the overall team standings.
Coach White touted the students' performances and the new venue at its first college rodeo event.
“The students performed well, the building performed extremely well,” White said. “It's going to be tough to wait for our next college rodeo in a year. I wish we could have one every month!”
Looking forward to what's next
With the first rodeo successfully in the books, Dr. Rank said he's looking forward to what's next.
“We are in talks right now about doing another concert similar to the one we did at the grand opening,” he said. “And we are working on bringing in a bull riding tour, additional rodeos, and single events like barrel racing and jackpot team ropings.”
“Beyond that, this is now the home of East Texas Rodeo, so it's our practice facility as well, which will be very attractive as we recruit new rodeo students in the years to come.”
Learn more about Rodeo at East Texas A&M.
