There's no place like home, and Fort St John, British Columbia, cowboy, Jake Gardner, loves his north country roots. 

That was evident again, as the two-time All-Around Champion of Canada won his "hometown" rodeo - the Grande Prairie Stompede - for the third consecutive time.

"I owe a lot of my Canadian Professional Rodeo Association career success to that rodeo," Gardner said. "I draw good there, I love riding there, the committee does a great job and Volds bring great stock. I've always started my year off with success at Grande Prairie. It's a good one to get the season rolling."

Gardner rode Vold Rodeo's 42 Last Rights to 89.5 points in the first performance of the SMS Equipment Pro Rodeo Tour stop - a score that stayed on top of the leaderboard throughout the four days of competition and netted the two-event cowboy the win and a cool $3,000.

"He's a really good bull and hasn't been ridden a lot," the 25-year-old added. "I've seen him at quite a few PBR short rounds, and I knew when I saw my name beside him in the draw, if I could do my job properly, it would work out."

The win moved Gardner from 10th to the top 5 in the Canadian standings, and his early season bull riding success (second place at Dawson Creek), coupled with a solid steer wrestling placing at Falkland a week ago, makes the two-time CFR qualifier a potential contender for the CPRA's newly minted Kenny McLean Award. 

The award celebrates the amazing legacy of another B.C. legend. McLean was a hall of famer and a 13-time Canadian Champion in multiple events. 

The Kenny McLean Award will be decided based on season earnings. To be eligible, a contestant must place at three separate rodeos in a riding event and three separate rodeos in a timed event.

With a National Finals Rodeo qualification one of Gardner's 2022 goals, the Grande Prairie Stompede title, along with a recent win at Redding, California, and placings at the PRCA Xtreme Bulls event in Alaska, the young athlete is off to a good start in pursuit of that goal.

Additional Weekend Winners Included:

Bareback: Cole Goodine, 89.5 points on Vold Rodeo's 63 Debbie Does Dallas, $2,763

Steer wrestling: Matt Richardson, 4.2 seconds, $2,749

Team roping: Brett Buss/Denim Ross, 3.8 seconds, $2,567 each

Saddle bronc: Dawson Dahm, 87 points on Vold Rodeo's P87 Turf Wars, $2,763

Tie down roping: Jason Smith, 8.4 seconds, $2,571

Ladies barrel racing: Sam Smith, 14.82 seconds, $3,619

Breakaway roping: Shaya Biever, 2.26 seconds, $1,275

Novice bareback: Ethan Mazurenko, 77 points, $434

Novice saddle bronc: Colton Powell, 71 points, $512

Steer riding: Jestin Jacklin, 78 points, $717

For complete CPRA results, check out rodeocanada.com.