HEBER CITY - Families of Utah Valley State College faculty and staff were decked out in cowboy hats and Wolverine apparel Monday night for a rodeo at the Wasatch County Events Center.

"Are you ready for the greatest sport on dirt?" announcer Brent Kelly asked the crowd as the rodeo began. Spectators cheered at the top of their voices as the first riders started off the night.

Each year UVSC sponsors an event to kick off the Summer U program, said Cameron Martin, an assistant to the president and co-chair for the event. A rodeo was especially appropriate because the school's team won national championships this academic year, he said.

Participants in the rodeo ranged from top high school athletes and current UVSC team members to even a few professional riders.

The rodeo included bareback riding, goat tying, saddle bronc riding, barrel racing and bull riding. In between events, dancing horses and a rodeo clown pleased the crowd. Bareback riders in colorful fringed chaps started the show, scoring in the 70-point range, with 100 points possible.

Goat tying was next. This timed event featured two sisters, whose father was a member of the UVSC team, along with several other girls. Each girl would jump from their running horse and tie any three legs of a goat in less than 10 seconds.

During the saddle bronc event, Kelly told the cheering crowd how well the rodeo animals are treated, even though they look like they're doing all they can to throw the riders. He said they are fed three gallons of grain every day, work about 20 seconds a year and live a good life.

The crowed watched as pick-up men helped the cowboys off the bucking horses or bulls and removed a belt that caused the animal to buck. As soon as the belt was off, the animals calm down and head for the gate - most of the time. Occasionally, they had to rope the animal and give it a little direction out of the arena.

"Fast horses and beautiful women," Kelly called out to introduce the barrel riding part of the rodeo. The girls directed their horses around three barrels in a cloverleaf pattern in less than 20 seconds.

The last event was a huge crowd-pleaser. Everyone cheered and screamed for bull riding, except for the rodeo clown. The announcer said the duration of a bull ride can be a long eight seconds, which almost every cowboy completed.

Chad Cole, a professional rider, scored a 92 out of 100 points, which would have earned him $10,000-$15,000 had this been a competitive rodeo, said UVSC coach Lewis Feild, who is a five-time national champion. Monday's event was more of a practice round for the team, Feild said, except for the audience. Practices are a lot like an actual rodeo, but having an audience gets the team excited to perform better, he said.

The team competes in five rodeos during the fall, and five more in March, Feild said.

Eight team members from UVSC have qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in June, he said. About 300 colleges will be represented during the week-long event in Casper, Wyo.

Kim Chiu, who helped organize the event, said the university organized the rodeo to help make people aware of the rodeo team and help the students out.

Rodeo continues to be a huge spectator sport, said Connie Bond, another member of the UVSC staff.

Utah has the second largest program for rodeo in high school, Bond said, following Texas. She said the two states switch back and forth in producing the top competitors in the country.

Rodeo is a great family event, she said.

"Utah is an extremely competitive state on all levels," Bond said.