Fairfield cowboy wins state all-around

FAIRFIELD HIGH SCHOOL junior student Cooper Vandiver won the All Around Cowboy title last week at the Texas High School Rodeo Association finals in Abilene and qualified to advance to the national finals this month at Farmington, N.M., in cutting. Fairfield high school junior student Cooper Vandiver combined points from three events to win the All Around Cowboy title last month at the Texas High School Rodeo Association finals and earned a spot in the National High School Rodeo Association finals this month.

Vandiver competed at the THSRA finals at Abilene in team roping, calf roping and cutting.

He placed eighth in the first round of calf roping but failed to make the short go, was 11th in the first round and fourth in the second round to make the short go in team roping and claimed third place in cutting.

Points from the Region IX seasons and state finals added up to the All Around title, for which Vandiver received a trophy saddle and belt buckle.

"I'm going to ride the saddle and I'm wearing the All Around buckle," he says.

MUTTON BUSTING CHAMPIONS at the Freestone County Fair, pictured with 1985 World Champion Bull Rider Ted Nuce, are, l-r, Dane Allman, Nicholas McKnight and Reagan Emmons. He also picked up a buckle for finishing third overall in cutting, which qualified him for the national finals, and for placing second in a go-round—-he also receives shirts from Wrangler, a pair of Ariat boots and a Resistol hat.

The FHS junior student is the heeler for team roping partner Shawn Mark Hudson of Tennessee Colony.

Vandiver reports that this is the first year he has made it to the short round in any event at the state finals, which he attributes to practice and the luck of the draw.

"I practiced the same as I always have. This time it worked out," he declares.

The cowboy practices roping 2-3 times a week and, because the cutting horse he rides is owned by a man in Corsicana, he tunes up that part of his game just prior to a competition.

The national rodeo, July 19-25 in Farmington, N.M., features more than 1,500 contestants from 41 states, five Canadian provinces and Australia, and is the world's largest rodeo.

CLAIMING THE ALL AROUND TITLES at the Yates Manahan Youth Rodeo during the Freestone County Fair were Dustin Duncan and Jake Hughes. Pictured are: front l-r, Duncan, 1985 World Champion Bull Rider Ted Nuce, Miss Hughes, Clark Fryer and Jason Rollo; back l-r, Debbie Manahan, Garrett Manahan, Cam Manahan and Jack Patterson. In addition to competing for more than $200,000 in prizes, NHSFR contestants will also be vying for more than $325,000 in college scholarships and the chance to be named a national champion.

Contestants also have the opportunity to represent their state teams in a volleyball tournament, take in nightly dances, participate in a talent contest, compete in a National Rifle Association shooting tournament, test their skills in a Knowledge Bowl competition and visit historical attractions in New Mexico.

Vandiver learned to rope from his father, Steve, and started competing in rodeos when he was about six years old.

"I rode my first horse by myself when I was three," the cowboy says, and notes that his parents have a picture of him when he was a week old sitting in a saddle with his father.

The junior student is the son of Steve and Teresa Vandiver of Fairfield.

At FHS he plays basketball and baseball, but gave up football because it interfered with rodeo.

This summer he is working with grandfather James Whatley baling hay and working cattle.

He also is helping his father start some horses, noting: "We are training them for ourselves."

Vandiver plans on attending Sam Houston State University after graduating FHS in 2011, partly because roping partner Hudson starts classes there this fall and they would be able to team up for college competition.

Prior to going to the national finals in Farmington, the FHS junior is heading to Shawnee, Okla., to compete in the International Finals Youth Rodeo set July 13-18.

From Shawnee, he and his parents will head directly to Farmington to start the NHSRA finals.