Auctioneer Brennin Jack is barely old enough to raise a toast and celebrate his award as international rookie of the year at the Calgary Stampede.
The 19-year-old Saskatchewan native completed auction school two years ago and has been collecting accolades ever since.
“This year was a triple crown for me,” he said after the Stampede’s international auctioneers competition July 11.
He was this year’s provincial champion for the Saskatchewan-Manitoba division and placed third at the Canadian national livestock auctioneers championship in June.
Jack started entering contests immediately after graduating from auctioneer school and in 2007 he was the Canadian rookie of the year at the age of 16. He believes he has learned much and improved considerably since that first big win.
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“I got a video of myself and I looked like an idiot. It was a rude awakening. My hands and my head were going all over the place,” he said.
Now that he has won rookie of the year at the Stampede, his next goal is to reach the top 10 in the international arena.
Jack grew up on a ranch near Rama in east-central Saskatchewan and knew he wanted to be an auctioneer by the time he was nine.
Affable and articulate, he sells commercial cattle at Heartland Livestock in Yorkton, Sask., three days a week. Two other auctioneers on the Yorkton staff are past champions so he has big shoes to fill.
Jack has started a sideline business selling antiques and auctioneering at estate sales. He also plans to become an accomplished cattle buyer.
Jack enters only a couple competitions each year and enjoys the socializing as well as the experience.
“An auctioneers’ competition is like a family reunion,” he said.
This year’s grand champion from 26 hopefuls was Paul Ramirez of Tucson, Arizona. Reserve champion was Shawn Gist of Gibbons, Alta.
Part of the week-long competition includes selling pens of multi-coloured steers at the fed beef expo held July 10. The expo champion pen of steers title went to Kolk Farms of Iron Springs, Alta., and the grand champion pen of heifers came from Andy Rock and Ed Strunks of Delia, Alta.
