Team Ropers Brown and VonAhn Get Big Win
by Tracy Renck | Jul 26, 2015
The duo has qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo the past two years in a row. The 2015 season hasn’t been full of highlights, but Brown and VonAhn were all smiles at The Days of ’47 Rodeo (July 22-26).
Brown and VonAhn clocked a blistering 3.4-second run to win the team roping crown at Salt Lake.
“That’s one of the fastest times I’ve had in my life,” VonAhn said. “It was a tough rodeo. There was a 3.6, 3.8, and a couple of 4.1s. It was such a good rodeo, and usually you don’t have the opportunity where you go for the win and win or you miss. That’s what we were up against on that run and it was perfect. I couldn’t see the clock, but when I heeled him I knew it was fast. I wasn’t sure how fast just because it’s not like I have been 3.4 (seconds) a number of times. When I looked up and saw Luke and he was pumped up I knew we were really fast.”
Brown and VonAhn each collected $8,613 for the win, which was a huge jolt for them. Brown was 20th in the header July 20 Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings. VonAhn was 19th in the heeler standings. Each had $31,471 in winnings.
“We were the last team out in the rodeo and it was do or die because the rodeo was so tough,” Brown said. “You had to make a great run to win something and it worked out. I told myself I wasn’t going to worry about the barrier, I was just going to go as fast as I could, and I knew I didn’t break the barrier. I told my wife (Lacy), that was probably the happiest I’ve ever been at a rodeo. That’s the fastest time I’ve ever recorded. This win gave us a big boost because we needed to have a big win. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going.”
Other winners at the $330,811 rodeo were all-around cowboy Trevor Brazile, ($10,125, tie-down roping and team roping), bareback rider Orin Larsen (83 points on Flying 5 Rodeo’s Rio’s Edge), steer wrestler Trevor Knowles (3.9 seconds), saddle bronc rider Rusty Wright (90 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Kool Toddy), tie-down roper Trevor Brazile (6.9 seconds), barrel racer Sarah Rose McDonald (13.30 seconds), and bull rider Wesley Silcox (86 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Undertaker).
Courtesy of PRCA