The Poly Royal Rodeo began Friday night at Spanos Stadium. Steer riding, barrel racing, team racing and many more events. attracted a good-sized crowd.
Sixty Cal Poly students took part in Friday’s events. On top of a full academic load, they are training 15 hours a week.
"Man, Cal Poly kids are pretty dedicated here. It’s really hard to keep up with academics at Cal Poly and still have time to practice and put in all the effort that they do. We have a really good team that works hard to make each other better," said Macey Cox, an assistant coach with Cal Poly Rodeo.
You have to be pretty fearless to jump off a moving horse and then throw a steer to the ground. The Humphry brothers are glad to have each other by their sides as they compete.
"Nothing else better than having your brother sitting across from you after you throw a steer to win a round. Tonight, man, I just got out of the box and all I was thinking about was getting my time. I wasn’t thinking about how wild it can be," said Steel Humphry, a Cal Poly rider.
"Tomorrow is going to be ten times more exciting than tonight. Tonight’s the warmup and tomorrow should be pretty epic," Cox said.
"It’s just going to be a super exciting thing to be able to compete in front of that many people and do what I love and show everyone else what we do," Humphry said.
This marks the second year Poly Royal is hosted at the Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Saturday, starting at 5:30 p.m., the top ten who prevailed from Friday night’s events will compete. Organizers are expecting more than 11,000 people to pack the stadium. Tickets and details here.
After the events, Aaron Watson takes the stage for a concert at 8 p.m. There’s a barbecue on the O’Neill Green at 2:30. Rodeo gates open at 4 p.m.
