Teacher takes time to travel, pick up a rodeo check or two

Kelly Kaminski used to tell her seventh-grade students to dream big.

Then they turned that concept back on her and now she is living her dream.

The Bellville, Texas, cowgirl is traveling around the country, stopping on occasion to saddle up Rocky, run a cloverleaf pattern and pick up a check.

She’s consistent enough – though it’s Rocky she calls Mr. Consistency – that she is the two-time defending world champion in barrel racing.

Her stop on Friday was Cheney, where she and Rocky ran the barrels in 17.41 seconds to sit second in the Cheney rodeo with two performances to go.

“Having someone outrun me is OK as long as I get a check,” Kaminski said after finishing two one-hundredths of a second behind Kelli Kamm of Stanfield, Ore. “It’s tough everywhere, there are tough horses everywhere. I tell people I don’t expect to win. He’s a good average horse. I get a lot of checks.”

Kaminski wasn’t raised as a cowgirl, she just had a love of horses that evolved into rodeo, and in 2000, with encouragement from her students, she resigned her teaching position and became a student, learning from the school of hard knocks. But after that first year she has become the biggest winner in her event, twice finishing second in the world before becoming champion.

“I loved teaching, it was hard to leave my nice secure job,” she said. “But I love to travel. My daughter (Kenna) is 8 and she’s with me. We get to see the country together.”

Since she is on the road a good portion of the year, her husband joins her whenever he can.

At the moment, she is sitting 10th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association standings, dropping from fifth because of a dry streak over the Fourth of July.

She entered Cheney because she was close by, resting at a friend’s place in Pendleton after the Fourth, and because she had never been in this part of the country before.

Kaminski isn’t the only big-time competitor who found tough competition in Cheney.

B.J. Campbell, 12th in the PRCA all-around standings, had the third-place time in steer wrestling (6 seconds) and had a leading time of 5.4-seconds in team roping knocked down when header Riley Minor was penalized 10 seconds for breaking the barrier.

“It’s like any sport, you have good and bad nights,” Campbell, the Benton City, Wash., cowboy said. “(Minor) is really upset. I had no idea (he broke the barrier). I didn’t think he would, he’s been doing a great job all year.”

That made the 6.8-second run by Oregon cowboys Shane Erickson and Rick Copher the time to beat in the last two performances.

But it was a tough night for Campbell to begin with.

As he grabbed his steer, it threw its head back and knocked him in the mouth, snapping his head back.

“That steer’s been known to do that,” Campbell said. “If you’re not careful he can knock you out.”

Then it got worse as he took a horn in the stomach.

Still, the steer wrestling time could hold up for a check, a regular occurrence for Campbell this year, considering he has won more than $34,000. The big surprise is that so much of it has come in steer wrestling, something the 27-year old had given up as he made a name for himself in qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo three times in team roping.

“A lot of it goes to my grandpa, he wanted me to steer wrestle, and my family backing me,” Campbell said.

He also credits Pat Arman, a friend of his dad who lives near Los Angeles for sponsoring him.

“Without him I couldn’t do it,” Campbell said.

Campbell repaid his supporters with all-around titles at Redmond, Ore., Reno, Nev., where he won $10,000, and Sisters, Ore.

“I didn’t plan on trying to make (the NFR) in steer wrestling,” he said. “Now I’ll have to try.”

Campbell is only 36th in the steer wrestling standings but he has competed in less than 20 rodeos. He is 28th in team roping in just over 20 rodeos.

Barry Kriekemeier of West Point, Neb., has the lead in steer wrestling at 5.4 seconds.

Monty Lewis of Hereford, Texas, who is fifth in the PRCA standings, is leading the tie-down calf roping with an 8.9-second run.

In the rough stock events, the animals of Big Bend Rodeo Company were the stars.

Bareback riders fared well, with six scores in the 70’s topped Grandview, Wash., cowboy Sean Culver’s 77 on Painted Lady, a former NFR horse.

There were only three qualifying rides in saddle bronc, led by a 77 on Crooked Face by Josh McKenzie of Jordan Valley, Ore.

In bull riding, only Willy Ives managed to last 8 seconds, scoring a 72.