Tarleton Rodeo Hall of Fame to Honor 2021 Inductees

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STEPHENVILLE — Tarleton State University’s Rodeo Hall of Fame will induct four new members at the organization’s annual steak dinner and auction Saturday, Nov. 13, at the Tarleton Rodeo Arena, 13635 FM 3025.

The annual event, which benefits the rodeo scholarship fund, begins at 6 p.m. with a reception, followed by the induction ceremony, dinner and live auction.

Admission is $50 per person and includes dinner. Tickets are available through 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10; contact the Office of Rodeo Activities, 254-968-9344 or 254-968-1793.

About this year’s inductees:

Richmond Champion 

A much-decorated bareback rider, Richmond earned the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Southwest Region championship and the CNFR reserve title in 2014. Since turning pro, he won the first RFD-TV’s The American, has been a seven-time qualifier to the National Finals Rodeo, and qualified three times to the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

He was the first bareback rider to earn $1 million for a single ride, claiming that distinction while still a Tarleton student.

The 28-year-old Stevensville, Mont., resident was the 2018 Canadian bareback champ and twice has won top honors at the Calgary Stampede.

Kirby Eppert 

Kirby, born and raised in Nebraska, stayed true to the family tradition, competing in junior and high school rodeos. She was a four-time National High School Rodeo qualifier, winning the National Finals goat tying in 2003 and 2005.

She competed in breakaway roping and goat tying for four years at Tarleton and was the 2006 College National Finals Rodeo All Around Champion Cowgirl and Rookie of the Year after winning the regional all-around title for the first of two consecutive seasons. In 2007 she was the CNFR Reserve All Around Champion Cowgirl. She held the CNFR arena goat tying record from 2007 to 2011.

Kirby graduated magna cum laude from Tarleton in 2009 with a bachelor of business administration degree. She received her master’s from Colorado State University in animal sciences.

As a rodeo professional, she qualified for the first NFR breakaway roping title last year in Arlington.

Perry Lee

Perry has competed in rodeos and trained cutting and roping horses all of his adult life, winning his first buckle at the age of 10.

That win began a career of more than 50 years in calf roping and a 30-year run in team roping. During the ’70s and ’80s he competed in over 60 rodeos and 50 cutting events a year.

He won a remarkable 20 saddles and 100 buckles, and was the Texas High School Rodeo Association state champion bull rider in 1969 and the 1971-72 AJRA all-around champion and bareback champion.

He competed in bull riding, bareback riding, steer wrestling and calf roping for Tarleton from 1971 to 1973 and earned the CNFR bareback crown, the first national title in school history, in ’73.

After Tarleton he claimed the National Cutting Horse Association non-pro cutting championship at Houston before getting his Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association card in 1975.

He won the Clay County Pioneer Rodeo bareback riding in both ’78 and ’79; won the 1984 Docs Budha NCHA cutting; was reserve champion at the ’84 NCHA World Finals; and was the 1987 Houston Open NCHA champion.

Sue Albin Magers

Sue attended Tarleton from 1965 to 1968 after graduating from high school in Comanche as valedictorian of her class. A barrel racer, she was born into a rodeo family.

Her father owned one of the historic foundation stallions in the cutting horse business, Royal King. All of the horses she rode were Royal King offspring.

Her brother, Billy Albin, was a member of the first Tarleton rodeo team, which won the NIRA championship in 1967. She was the first woman to represent Tarleton in NIRA competition, qualifying for the CNFR in 1965 and ’66.

Sue graduated from Tarleton in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and in 1976 with a master’s degree in education.

After college she taught high school for three years before joining Comanche National Bank, where she retired as Executive Vice President after 40 years of service.

The Rodeo Hall of Fame honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to Tarleton rodeo. Induction reflects the university’s appreciation of rodeo achievements and commitment to excellence in a competitive environment.

The Rodeo Hall of Fame made its first induction in 2012 and now includes 48 high-achieving student-athletes and others instrumental in the program’s success. Tarleton teams have won seven national championship titles and 28 individual championships.

For more information about Tarleton rodeo, visit http://www.tarleton.edu/rodeo.

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