PCAA Commissioner Cryer Resigns to Head Rodeo Cowboys Assn.

Lewis Cryer, Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. commissioner for 10 years, has resigned to become the first commissioner of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Assn.

Cryer, an Irvine resident, said he will assume his new duties in mid-January after moving to Colorado Springs, Colo., site of the rodeo association’s headquarters.

Dennis Farrell, assistant commissioner under Cryer since 1980, has been named interim commissioner. Farrell, 36, lives in Mission Viejo.

Cryer announced his decision at the PRCA national finals Saturday in Las Vegas while the California Bowl--the climax of the PCAA football season--was being played in Fresno.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of working as the first commissioner in the history of the sport,” Cryer, 45, said. “The PRCA continues to grow in prizes and numbers of events and national exposure.”

The PRCA, 51 years old, is the sanctioning body of approximately 630 rodeos annually and $20 million in prize money. Cryer will serve as the association’s chief negotiator in all television and scholarship activities.

Cryer supervised the growth of the 10-member PCAA from a statewide to regional conference, with the addition of Utah State, Nevada Las Vegas and New Mexico State. Before his position with the PCAA, Cryer was an associate athletic director at the University of Oregon and University of Pacific.