The new partnership of Jake Barnes, right, and Jhett Johnson is off to a great start at the Guymon (Okla.) Pioneer Days Rodeo. Barnes and Johnson have earned checks in the first two rounds and lead the three-head average. Photo by Ted Harbin

GUYMON, Okla. – The opening night of the 80th annual Pioneer Days Rodeo on May 4 was a showcase of the sport’s best.

Six world champions took the lead in their respective events at Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena, led by a couple from 2011 – bareback rider Kaycee Feild and team roping heeler Jhett Johnson.

Feild matched moves with Carr ProRodeo’s Cool Change for 86 points to carry the lead heading into the three weekend performances set for 2 and 7:30 p.m. on May 5 and 2 p.m. on May 6.

Johnson teamed with seven-time world champion header Jake Barnes of Scottsdale, Ariz., to lead the three-head average with a total time of 21.8 seconds. While they posted an 8.7-second run on Friday night, they’ve already earned $2,274 by placing in the first two go-rounds during slack. “This is our first rodeo together,” said Johnson, who won his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle last season while roping with Turtle Powell. “I guess, with a little luck, hopefully we’ll win it.”

“It’s always fun to come to Guymon, going to school here (at Oklahoma Panhandle State University), being one of the alumni and all that. I know the area real well. I know the people and the people putting on the rodeo. Then to come here and do well is always a good deal.”

Besides Barnes, Feild and Johnson, the other world champions who took the lead on May 4 were barrel racer Sherry Cervi of Marana, Ariz.; saddle bronc rider Jesse Kruse of Great Falls, Mont.; and bull rider Dustin Elliott of North Platte, Neb.

Cervi, a three-time world champion who placed second in the opening go-round on Friday morning, rounded the cloverleaf pattern in 17.25 seconds in the evening performance to take the lead. Kruse, who won the gold buckle in 2009, rode Carr’s Corner Guard for 85 points. Elliott, the 2004 champion, matched moves with Carr’s Charlie’s Bandito for 82 points.

“You couldn’t ask for one any better than that bull,” Elliott said. “He’s just a good bull. He’s just what you enter for. There was only one bull out that a guy really didn’t want to get on.”

Results from Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo