Barrel racers storm leaderboard at Reno

Posted Monday, June 22, 2009

RENO, Nev. --- Sue Smith of Blackfoot, Idaho, turned in the second-fastest time of the 90th Annual Reno Rodeo – a 17.01 – to move to second in the second round and second overall average behind defending world champion Lindsay Sears.

She is well known on the futurity circuit and is making her debut at professional rodeos with her self-trained horse, Real Claim To Fame. He is a six-year- old gelding that is likely to bring Smith around the pattern again in the finals.

Four other cowgirls also put themselves in the money. Whitney Baker of Texas clocked a smoking 17.17. Wyoming’s Julie James and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifiers Jill Moody and Brenda Mays all turned in runs under 17.4 seconds.

Bull rider Sean Case of Riverside, Calif., covered Flying U Rodeo Company’s Big Mike for a whopping 89 points to move to second in the round of bull riding. It was the first time in more than a year that the bull had been ridden. Case was just one of three riders that lasted the full eight-seconds.

Texas team ropers Cody Odell and Dustin Davis made a pair of businesslike 6-second runs in each round to slide into fourth over-all in their event. Their 6.6-second time in the third performance was the only clean run of the night.

Saddle bronc rider JJ Elshere of South Dakota wowed the crowd with an 82-point ride on Rosser Rodeo’s Short Fusin to best the rest of the field by five points. His ride moved him to fourth in the first round. Elshere will have his second round competition here on Monday night.

And tie-down roper Clint Robinson, currently sitting second in the PRCA world standings, tied his second-round calf in 9.5 seconds in Reno to move to a split for fifth in that round with Fred Whitfield. He had a 14.3 second run in the first round, so his combined total is unlikely to qualify for Saturday night’s finals.

The fourth performance of the rodeo gets underway at 7 p.m. on Monday.

--- Following are unofficial results from the third performance and leaders at the Reno Rodeo, courtesy of Clearwire.

Third Performance---

Bareback Riding: 1/2, Ryan Gray, Cheney, Wash., and Wes Stevenson, Lubbock, Texas, 80 points each on Rosser’s Hollywood Hanna and Rosser’s Short Bar. 3/4, Justin McDaniel, Porum, Okla., and Jason Havens, Prineville, Ore., 79 points each. 5, Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 78. 6/7, Royce Ford, Briggsdale, Colo., and Tom McFarland, Wickenburg, Ariz., 77 points each.

Steer Wrestling: 1, Zack Cobb, Pampa, Texas, 5.0. 2, KC Jones, Decatur, Texas, 8.1. 3, Kyle Dahl, Ogden, Utah, 14.5. 4, Clay Lloyd, Dingle, Idaho, 14.6. 5, Brandon Bates, Mexican Springs, N.M., 16.2. 6, Beau Smith, Malad, Idaho, 17.5.

Team roping: 1, Cody Odell, Como, Texas, and Dustin Davis, Texarkana, Ark., 6.6. 2, Caleb Mitchell, Charlotte, Texas and Ryan Motes, Weatherford, Texas, 14.5. 3, Ron Darnell, Sanger, Calif., and Dennis Watkins, Bakersfield, Calif., 15.1. 4, Tyler Kaess, Salida, Colo., and Chad Wahlert, Eaton, Colo., 20.8.

Saddle Bronc Riding: 1, JJ Elshere, Quinn, S.D., 82 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Short Fusin. 2/3/4, Louie Brunson, Interior, S.D., Isaac Diaz, Stephenville,Texas, and Shawn Morehead, Bruneau, Idaho, 77 points each. 5/6, Red Lemmel, Faith, S.D., and Mike Outhier, Utopia, Texas, 72. 7, Lyle Welling, Crawford, Neb., 58.

Tie Down Roping: 1, Clint Robinson, Spanish Fork, Utah, 9.5 seconds. 2, Tim Pharr, Resaca, Ga., 10.3. 3/4, Wes Lockard, Susanville, Calif., and Jake Cooper, Monument, N.M., 12.5 seconds each. 5, Matt Kenny, Onawa, Iowa, 12.7. 6, Jerrad Hofstetter, Portales, N.M., 22.7.

Barrel Racing: 1, Sue Smith, Blackfoot, Idaho, 17.01 seconds. 2, Whitney Baker, Stephenville, Texas, 17.17. 3, Julie James, Pinedale, Wyo., 17.23. 4, Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D., 17.31. 5, Brenda Mays, Terrebonne, Ore., 17.39. 6, Reagan Dillard, Pleasanton, Texas, 17.70. 7, Shali Lord, Lamar, Colo., 17.79.

Bull Riding: 1, Sean Case, Riverside, Calif., 89 points on Flying U’s Big Mike. 2, Jacob Tyner, Sacramento, Calif., 72. 3, Ben McPherson, Nephi, Utah, 62.

Current Leaders ---

Bareback Riding: First Round Leaders: 1, Ethan McNeill, 82 on Big Bend Rodeo’s Spring Fling. 2, Ben Londo, 78. 3/4, Randy VandenBos and Dustin Mulrony, 73 each. 5, Jessy Davis, 72, 6, James Sursa, 70. Second Round Leaders: 1, Dustin Mulrony, Pomeroy, Wash., 82 points on Rosser Rodeo’s Pocket Rocket. 2, Jessy Davis, Payson, Utah, 79. 3, Tyson Thompson, Merrill, Ore., 73. 4/5, Randy VandenBos, Valier, Mont., and Ethan McNeill, Grantsville, Utah, 69 each. 6, James Sursa, Bluebell, Utah, 67. Average Leaders: 1, Dustin Mulrony, 154 points on two head. 2/3, Ethan McNeill and Jessy Davis, 151 each. 4, Randy VandenBos, 142. 5, James Sursa, 137.

Steer Wrestling: First Round Leaders: 1/2/3, Brad Johnson, Joey Bell Jr., and Jason Reiss, 4.7 seconds each. 4/5, KC Jones and Jule Hazen, 4.8 seconds each. 6, Sean Mulligan, 4.9. Second Round Leaders: 1/2, Rhett Kennedy and Wade Sumpter, 3.8 seconds each. 3, Jake Hannum, 3.9. 4, Jake Rinehart, 4.2. 5, Joey Bell Jr., 4.4. 6, Casey McMillen, 4.7. Average Leaders: 1, Joey Bell Jr., 9.1 seconds on two. 2, Jason Reiss, 10.4. 3, Brad Johnson, 11.3. 4, Blake Brown, 11.8. 5, Ken Lewis, 12.3.

Team Roping: First-Round Leaders: 1, Travis Tryan and Michael Jones, 4.9 seconds. 2, Chad Masters and Jade Corkill, 5.1. 3/4, Kelsey Parchman and Monty Joe Petska/Charly Crawford and Russell Cardoza, 5.8 each. 5/6, Wade Wheatley and Cody Cowden/Cody Odell and Dustin Davis, 6.1 seconds each. Second-Round Leaders: 1, Chad Masters and Jade Corkill, 5.6 seconds. 3, Cody McMinn and Joe Day, 5.8. 4, Kaleb Driggers and Brad Culpepper, 5.9 seconds. 5, Dustin Bird and Caleb Twisselman, 6.2. 6, Wade Wheatley and Cody Cowden, 6.4. Average Leaders: 1, Chad Masters and Jade Corkill, 10.7 seconds on two head. 2, Travis Tryan and Michael Jones, 11.8. 3, Wade Wheatley and Cody Cowden, 12.5. 4, Cody Odell and Dustin Davis, 12.7. 5, Kaleb Driggers and Brad Culpepper, 13.2. 6, John Chaves and Kyle Lockett, 13.8.

Saddle Bronc Riding: First Round Leaders: 1, Billy Etbauer, 89 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Devil Lady. 2, Justin Arnold, 88. 3, Wes Burns, 85. 4, JJ Elshere, 82. 5/6, Levi Berry and Cody Wright, 81. Second Round Leaders: 1, Bradley Harter, Weatherford, Texas, 83 points on Flying U’s Flood Plain. 2, Cody Wright, Milford, Utah, 81. 3/4, Anthony Bello, Oakley, Utah, and Justin Arnold, Santa Margarita, Calif., 78 points each. 5, Rusty Allen, Eagle Mountain, Utah, 77. 6, Sam Spreadborough, Snyder, Texas, 74. 7, Devin Sagers, Wallsburg, Utah, 63. Average Leaders: 1, Justin Arnold, 166 points on two head. 2, Bradley Harter, 163. 3, Cody Wright, 162.

Tie Down Roping: First Round Leaders: 1, Landon McClaugherty, 7.8 seconds. 2, Adam Gray, 9.5. 3, Jason Vohs, 9.7. 4, Doug Pharr, Victoria, Texas, 9.6. 5, Mike Arnold, 9.8. 6, Sterling Smith, 10.1. Second-Round Leaders: 1, Hunter Herrin, 7.8 seconds. 2, Trevor Thiel, 8.6. 3, Casey Wilson, 8.9 seconds. 4, Jason Vohs, 9.3. 5/6, Clint Robinson and Fred Whitfield, 9.5 seconds each. Average Leaders: 1, Jason Vohs, 19.0 seconds on two. 2, Ryan Jarrett, 19.3. 3, Landon McClaugherty, 20.6. 4, Ricky Canton, 20.7. 5, Jake Hannum, 21.2. 6, Hunter Herrin, 21.9. 7, Mike Arnold, 21.3.

Barrel Racing: Second Round Leaders: 1, Lindsay Sears, 16.96 seconds. 2, Sue Smith, 17.01. 3/4, Whitney Baker and PJ Burger, 17.17 seconds each. 5, Julie James, Pinedale, Wyo., 17.23. 6, Sabrina Ketcham, 17.24. 7, Kelli Tolbert, 17.27. 8, Jill Moody, Letcher, S.D., 17.31. 9, Brenda Mays, 17.39. 10, Layna Kight, 17.44. Average Leaders: 1, Lindsay Sears, 34.03 seconds on two. 2, Sue Smith, 34.41. 3, PJ Burger, 34.45. 4, Sabrina Ketcham, 34.67. 5, Kelli Tolbert, 34.75. 6, Whitney Baker, 34.76. 7, Danyelle Campbell, 34.93. 8, Megan McLeod, 35.00.

Bull Riding: First Round Leaders: 1, J.W. Harris , 91 points on Big Bend Rodeo’s Major Shock. 2, Sean Case, 89. 3, Ted Bert, 78. 4, Bobby Roberts, 77. 5/6, Thomas Bert and Nathan Klassen, 72.