BROKEN BONES AND BREAK NECK SPEEDS AT PONOKA STAMPEDE
July 2 , 2009

A broken leg wasn’t going to hold Lindsay Sears back. The Nanton, Alta. cowgirl, who fractured the fibula in her left leg in High River two weeks ago, got a mold fitted for the leg, brought her championship barrel horse Martha up from Texas, and proceeded to win the first go-round in the ladies barrel racing at the Ponoka Stampede.

Her time of 16.93 seconds is thought to be the fastest weave around the barrels in the event’s 73 years.

She placed fourth in the finals, but wowed the crowd with an impressive first place time in the showdown. Sears also placed first in the aggregate, picking up nearly $17,000 for her efforts at the Ponoka, Alta. rodeo, one of western Canada’s biggest rodeos.

And with rodeo season’s busiest few weeks just getting started, Sears also kept her commitments to the Airdrie Pro Rodeo and the Williams Lake Stampede, occurring the same weekend. But, a time of 16.37 seconds in Airdrie, Alta. wasn’t enough to get in on the money, and a knocked barrel in Williams Lake, B.C. tipped over any chances of earnings there.

She made up for it at the Reno Rodeo in Nevada. Arriving at the “Wildest, Richest Rodeo in the West” on crutches, Sears was bound and determined to finish what she started after winning the first go-round two days before her accident. She won that championship round and the average, and the more than $12,000 that went with it.

She is set to compete next week at the Calgary Stampede before taking a doctor-ordered rest for at least two weeks after re-injuring her leg at a rodeo in Colorado earlier this week.

“I’m back at square one and my doctor told me they’ll get me ready for Calgary, but after that I’m going to have to take a couple of weeks off,” Sears announced.

Please visit www.rodeocanada.com for a complete list of unofficial results, as well as the latest Canadian standings.