HAY & O’NEILL OUT; SEARS FINALLY CASHES CHEQUE

By Darell Hartlen Editor Canadian Rodeo News
Posted Saturday, December 9, 2006

Saddle bronc rider Rod Hay (Wildwood, Alta.) drew Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Multi-Chem Outcast Fletch, a hard-to-ride outlaw, in the ninth round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Before the performance, when asked about his draw for the evening, Hay simply stated, “Oh, (I’m) as happy as anyone else with that pen.”
His displeasure was due to the fact that they were about to face the eliminators.
Hay never got set up the way he wanted to on the strong outlaw, and was bucked off.
“He’s all there. He definitely fits the eliminator pen. That’s what he does,” said Hay.
Still in the hunt for his first gold buckle, he knew he couldn’t hold back.
“I guess in my position, I needed to get by him in a really good way. I kind of had it on my mind that I was going to knock the sonofagun out. I think that if you were able to run him back in again, I think I could get it done.”
Hay spurred Outcast Fletch out of the gate, but after that it went bad, and quick. “The horse shot forward and he really got my chin. Very few horses ever get my chin, but he got it good enough to where I kind of smacked ‘er there, saw a couple stars and lost my train. As soon as I got it back, I went ‘alright, let’s go,’ but he was one step ahead of me.
“Basically all I can say is I got my butt bucked off.”
It ended his quest for a world title in 2006. He simply can’t make enough money between the last round and in the average bonus to catch Chad Ferley (Oelrichs, S.D.).
Ferley passed Cody DeMoss (Heflin, La.) this evening to take the lead in the world standings.
Hay has made $49,228 in Las Vegas and is fifth in the world standings.
Glen O’Neill (Didsbury, Alta.) withdrew from the WNFR this evening prior to the performance. The 2002 world champion came into the rodeo nursing an injury on his right knee and damaged his left foot while dismounting a horse earlier this week.
He also was forced to quit early at the CFR last month in Edmonton, that time with a pulled hamstring.
Lee Graves (Calgary, Alta.) twisted a red roan steer in 3.8 seconds in round No. 9, cashing in for third place in the round.
“I had a good steer tonight, I was excited about it,” said Graves.
The steer had only been out once so far at the WNFR. Ronnie Fields (Oklahoma City, Okla.) had drawn the steer in the sixth round, but didn’t compete due to injuries.
K.C. Jones (Decatur, Tex,) had been 3.7 seconds and third place on the same steer in the third round.
“He was one of the ones to have,” said Graves, the reigning world champion. “It’s funny, me and Shawn Greenfield (Lakeview, Ore.) were talking about two steers on the way down here tonight, 58 and 73.”
Sure enough when they got to the arena and checked the draw, that’s the two they had.
”I just about fell over, I started laughing. Greenfield said to me ‘what are you laughing about?’ and I said ‘take a look at the board!’
“It’s like baseball, you start calling where it’s going and it goes there!”
Greenfield won the round on his steer in 3.4 seconds.
Graves has made $42,983 at the WNFR and is fourth in the world standings.
In the bareback riding, Tom McFarland (Wickenburg, Ariz.) rode Kesler Rodeo Co.’s champion horse Painted Smile for 81 points and second in the go-round.
Bobby Mote (Culver, Ore.) picked up the sixth-place cheque after a 78-point bout with Vold Rodeo’s One and Only.
Heath Ford (Greeley, Colo.) bucked off Kesler Rodeos Co.’s Sky Reach.
Barrel racer Lindsay Sears (Nanton, Alta.) finally got things to click at her first WNFR appearance. She ran a 13.87-second pattern, winning second in the round and $12,662.
Notables:
Trevor Brazile (Decatur, Tex.) has guaranteed himself another all-around title, his fourth in five years.
The top bareback rider tonight was Cimmaron Gerke (Brighton, Colo.), who made his first appearance at the CFR last month. Gerke rode Growney Brothers’ Moulon Rouge for 83.5 points.
Joe Beaver (Huntsville, Tex.) & Cole Bigbee (Stephenville, Tex.) split the team roping round with David Key (Caldwell, Tex.) & Kory Koontz (Sudan, Tex.). Each team had 4.4-second runs.
Chad Ferley and Bradley Harter (Weatherford, Tex.) split first place in the bronc riding.
They were each 84 points, Ferley on Growney Brothers’ Painted Feathers and Harter on Flying Five Rodeo’s Sun Dance.
The fastest tie-down roper was Clint Robinson (Spanish Fork, Utah), who tied things up in 7.3 seconds.
Denise Adams (Lufkin, Tex.) won the barrel racing with a 13.86-second run.
The bulls got the better of the bull riders again this evening. Bobby Welsh (Gillette, Wyo.) was the only rider to cover his bull, Cervi & Guidry Rodeo’s Multi-Chem Western Hauler.
Complete results and world standings are available at www.prorodeo.com.