In Profile: Luke Creasy's wild ride up the bareback bronc riding ranks
Luke Creasy is a lot like other top-flight academic stars at Texas Tech, pulling down a 4.0 GPA; soft spoken with a dry wit and a studious study habit. Everything seems pretty normal until you shake hands with the 22-year-old senior and there's that first inkling of a surprisingly large amount of strength in that crushing right hand.
Hold your horses; it turns out that the Canadian native is a champion bareback bronc rider and long-time leader of Texas Tech's award-winning rodeo team.
"Luke's a tough hand and an awesome bareback rider," said Chris Guay, Texas Tech's Rodeo Coach and as equine instructor with Department of Animal and Food Sciences. "He represents Texas Tech with both high academics and outstanding athletic abilities."
Outstanding Abilities. Creasy has gained more points in one event than any other rodeo team member at Texas Tech, Guay said. It helps that he's also the defending Southwest Region National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Champion Bareback Bronc Rider.
Being a champion bareback bronc rider is tough duty. Considered one of the most physically demanding rodeo events the rider uses one arm to hold onto a rawhide handhold of a riggin "" a leather pad cinched around the horse's girth. The handhold is snug-fitting and customized to the cowboy's grip. The stress on the rider's arm is intense since the riding arm absorbs most of the horse's power.
Earlier this fall at the Eastern New Mexico University 'College Daze Rodeo' in Portales, Creasy finished first in go round one and second overall in bareback riding. At the Vernon College Southwest Region National Intercollegiate Rodeo, he had the high score of rodeo finals with 80 points and took home individual overall championship honors. He finished a strong season at Lubbock's Texas Tech Rodeo, placing in second in go round one, second in the finals, and second overall.
Prairie Provinces. Creasy and his older brother Clay (also a Tech rodeo team member) were raised in the rural farming and ranching community of Brownfield, Alberta, some 100 miles southeast of Edmonton. Located in the western part of Canada, Alberta is one of the country's prairie provinces with a sparse population of some 3.7 million.
But in terms of rodeo lore, Alberta is also home to the city of Calgary and the 10-day Calgary Stampede, considered by many as the greatest rodeo on earth. The annual event combines the excitement of a rodeo with the spectacular showmanship of a huge fair and theme park, all staged each July in a 94-acre permanent exposition park.
Creasy has a world outside the rodeo arena, though. In terms of academics, he's working toward a degree in English major at Tech with a long-term goal of becoming a freelance writer and instructor.
Written by Norman Martin
CONTACT: Chris Guay, rodeo coach, Department of Animal and Food Sciences, Texas Tech University at (806) 742-2805 ext. 256 or www.ttu.edu/rodeo
1202NM10 / Original Photo: Craig Kelley
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