WOODLAND HILLS : Calf Roper, 18, Is Hooked on Rodeo Events

The big rodeo is just days away, and at the moment, calf roper Tiphaine Williams has no time to chat. She’s fixated on the steel chute from which any second now a calf will explode in a mad dash for freedom.

Then, gates clang open and the chase is on. Eight hoofs become a blur and the earth rumbles as dust fills the air. The calf is fast, but the rust-colored quarter horse is faster.

Williams, blond hair streaking behind her, whirls her lariat, then lets it fly. It sails through the air--and misses.

She is frowning as she rides back to the spectator area. “It’s just nerves,” she explains to a visitor.

Meet Tiphaine Williams, a top-notch barrel rider and breakaway calf roper who doesn’t miss very often. She has already placed in the standings in the West Coast Region of the Intercollegiate Rodeo Assn.

She will compete in Pierce College’s 39th annual Intercollegiate Rodeo today, Saturday and Sunday. A good showing there would make her eligible for national college rodeo events.

But Williams, an urban cowgirl from Newbury Park, has mixed feelings about the rodeo life. While she loves the culture, she says, she has her sights set on a career as a civil engineer.

“You’ve gotta have money to do this,” said the 18-year-old Pierce College freshman. “I’m going to need a real job, because this doesn’t support you too well.”

Meanwhile, Williams is content to play the role of the school’s unofficial rodeo queen. She wears a large silver belt buckle that reads “Pierce College All-Around Rodeo Champion.”

Rodeo is mainly an outlet for Williams, who has been competing for five years. “It helps me keep my grades up,” said Williams, a straight-A student. “If I were just going to school, I would be bored and my brain would probably fry.”

“With some of these kids, you have to worry about them getting behind in their grades,” said Ron Wechsler, Pierce College’s animal science professor and part of the school’s six-member rodeo team. “With Tiphaine, you don’t have to worry about that; school is really important.”

Williams said she also enjoys the camaraderie of the other team members, and the other people in the sport outside the school.

“I like the rodeo people better than some of the city people I meet,” she said.

The daughter of an engineer father and junior high teacher mother, Williams is known for her drive, as well as her leadership qualities. “She’s very determined,” Wechsler said.

Meanwhile, Williams says she has good feelings about this weekend: “I think I’m going to get some things done.”

The rodeo is at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for seniors and children, ages 4 to 12. Proceeds benefit the school’s agricultural program.

An animal rights group has announced that it plans to picket the rodeo tonight, saying the event is cruel to the animals involved. Wechsler scoffs at the notion, saying the group has no evidence to back its claims.