Bull rider Clint Craig notches another big win at Pendleton Round-Up

Posted Monday, September 17, 2007

PENDLETON, ORE. - Clint Craig said it himself. He is having a career year. The Mena, Ark., cowboy won the bull riding championship on Saturday in the finals of the 97th Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up, his second major title of the season.
Craig secured Round-Up honors by scoring 92 points on Corey & Horst Rodeo Company’s North Star in the finals. He finished first with 179 points on two
head in front of a sell-out crowd of 17,000.
“To win Cheyenne (Frontier Days Rodeo) and Pendleton in the same year is unbelievable,” Craig said. “Those are the two top and biggest rodeos in my mind. I can’t explain the feelings I’m having right now. I think this may have shored up (a berth in) the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo for me.”
Craig has been hovering around 15th in the world standings as the season heads into the homestretch. The nearly $4,831 he won at the Pendleton Round-Up should punch his ticket to the Wrangler NFR, set for Dec. 6-15 in Las Vegas.
The top 15 in each event advance to ProRodeo’s world championships.
Chet Johnson of Gillette, Wyo., also helped his chances of making the Wrangler NFR. He scored a career-high 92 points, on Sankey Rodeo Company’s Domino Theory to claim the saddle bronc riding title.
Johnson finished with a total of 178 points on two head and was elated after his victory lap around the legendary grass arena.
“An 89 in Calgary was the closest I’ve ever come (to a 90-point ride),” Johnson said. “Oh, shoot, it’s a bronc rider’s dream. Everyone talks about winning Pendleton.”
Timed-event hand Cash Myers, of Athens, Texas, won the all-around title, winning more than $3,000 in tie-down roping and steer roping.
Todd Suhn of North Platte, Neb., won his second Pendleton Round-Up steer wrestling title by turfing his steer in 5.3 seconds in the finals. Suhn, who also claimed top honors in 1996, posted a time of 18.3 seconds on three head.
Another two-time winner was barrel racer Linzie Walker. The 20-year-old from Conway, Wash., repeated as Round-Up champion. She was speedy on a cloverleaf pattern that is considered long and covers both grass and dirt. She posted a time of 55.48 seconds on two runs.
Alwin Bouchard of Scandia, Alberta, and Tim Pharr of Resaca, Ga., shared the tie-down roping title. The men ended up knotted at 28.3 seconds apiece on three head after preliminary rounds and the finals.
In the bareback riding, Belle Fourche, S.D., cowboy Cleve Schmidt claimed Round-Up honors with a total score of 168 points on two head. Schmidt clinched the victory with the high mark in the finals by scoring 86 points on Sankey Rodeo Company’s Painted Wagon.
Rich Skelton, of Llano, Texas, is best known as a team roper, having claimed eight world championships with header Speed Williams. However, he is also a skilled steer roper. Skelton, who finished with a time of 46.3 seconds on three head, edged three-time Round-Up champion J.D. Yates of Pueblo, Colo., (46.4 seconds) for the steer roping title.
Charly Crawford of Prineville, Ore., and Cody Hintz of Spring Creek, Nev., won the team roping title. The pair had a combined time of 18.4 seconds on
three runs, two seconds faster than their nearest competitors.
Daily performances of the rodeo that was named PRCA Large Outdoor Committee of the Year in 2003 began on Wednesday with a total field of about 700 contestants chasing a share of the nearly $400,000 in prize money. The top 12 contestants with the highest scores or fastest times returned Saturday for cash and prizes that include buckles, saddles and Pendleton Woolen Mills jackets and blankets.
The Pendleton Round-Up is a festival, along with a professional rodeo, that locals call a “Wild West Show.” Activities include parades, a queen contest, carnival, live music at a street fair, the Happy Canyon Night Show Indian pageant and many more activities.

Organizers have involved area and regional Indian tribes since its inception in 1910. Horseback Indian Relay Races and Native American singing and dancing are included in the rodeo program. The Pendleton Round-Up will celebrate its Centennial in 2010.

Pendleton Round-Up
Pendleton, Ore., Sept. 12-15
Bareback riding: 1. Cleve Schmidt, Belle Fourche, S.D., 168 points on two head, $4,751; 2. (tie) Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., and Scott Montague, Rapid City, S.D., 167, $3,167 each.
Tie-down roping: 1. (tie) Tim Pharr, Resaca, Ga., and Alwin Bouchard, Scandia, Alberta, 28.8 seconds on three head, $4,254 each; 3. Shane Slack, Idabel, Okla., 28.9, $3,363.
Saddle bronc riding: 1. Chet Johnson, 178 points on two head, $4,851; 2. (tie) Jesse Kruse, Great Falls, Mont., and Ben Londo, Pendleton, Ore., 169, $3,234 each.
Team roping: 1. Charly Crawford, Prineville, Ore./Cody Hintz, Spring Creek,
Nev., 18.4 seconds on three head, $4,878 each; 2. (tie) Coleman Proctor, Miami, Okla./Jake Long, Nowota, Okla., and Jake Barnes, Scottsdale, Ariz./Clay O’Brien Cooper, Morgan Mill, Texas, 20.4, $3,923 each.
Steer wrestling: 1. Todd Suhn, North Platte, Neb., 18.3 seconds on three head, $3,859; 2. Trevor Knowles, Mount Vernon, Ore., 19.1, $3,355; 3. Jason Miller, Lance Creek, Wyo., 20.1, $2,852.
Steer roping: 1. Rich Skelton, Llano, Texas, 46.3 seconds on three head, $4,335; 2. J.D.Yates, Pueblo, Colo., 46.4, $3,769; 3. C.A. Lauer, Buffalo, Okla., 51.6, $3,204.
Barrel racing: 1. Linzie Walker, Conway, Wash., 55.48 seconds on two runs,
$3,919; 2. Terri Kay Kirkland, Billings, Mont., 56.73, $3,359; 3. Maegan
Reichert, Mount Pleasant, Texas, 56.79, $2,799.
Bull riding:1. Clint Craig, Mena, Ark., 179 points on two head, $4,831; 2. Kanin Asay, Powell, Wyo., 175, $3,703; 3. (tie) Brandon Reynolds, Pike Road, Ala., and Zack Oakes, Tonasket, Wash., 170, $2,254 each.