But the numbers posted on Thursday night at Bell County Expo Center have set the bar pretty high for the remaining challengers.
It didn’t get any better than J.W Harris of May on the final ride of the night. Harris posted a 90 on a bull named Rompus to take a commanding lead and top off a successful evening in the event.
Eight of the 17 entrants managed to finish their allotted eight seconds on their draw of the stock provided by the Sammy Andrews Rodeo Company. Three cowboys shared first place at 83 before Harris bested all of them.
Logan Knibbe of Rockdale, Douglas Duncan of Alvin and Cameron Bland of Glen Flora all posted scores that would win many rodeos. Knibbe is the nation’s No. 3-ranked bullrider and rode Desperado to place among the current money contenders.
Chad German of Groesbeck rode Radical Slinger to an 80 to sit in fifth place.
It was also a good evening for bareback and saddle bronc riders.
Frenchman Evan Jayne has the lead in the bareback after turning an 82 on Phantom. J.D. Thompson of Weatherford rode Spitfire to a 77 and is in second.
In the saddle bronc, Todd Rangel of College Station is ahead of a tight race after riding Renaissance Man to a 77. That score was one point better than a pair of cowboys - Bradley Harter of Weatherford and Jacob Crawley of Stephenville. Weatherford’s Christopher Lappa posted a 74 and Stephenville’s Andrew Counts had a 72 to round out the top five.
The calves and steers were problematic for many of the ropers and wrestlers, respectively, during the evening session. Most of the better times in those events occurred during slack competition from Wednesday and earlier Thursday.
Kirby Kaul of Yoakum leads the way in the steer wrestling with an impressive time of 3.8 seconds. Mickey Gee of Wichita Falls was the best from the evening go-round and his time of 4.1 seconds has him in second, ahead of Fairfield’s John Hill and Wyoming cowboy Kyle Callaway at 4.2, respectively.
The top three tie-down ropers came from the slack go-round, with Cash Weir of Charlotte in front at 9.5 seconds. Shank Edwards of Levelland is second at 9.7 and Clay Long of Stephenville is third at 10.0.
Colorado cowboys Tee Woolman and J.W. Berrego lead the way in the team roping at 4.4 seconds. They have the edge on the 4.5 time from Chance Kelton and Boogie Ray of Mabank.
Jake Kropik of Midway and Cole Davison of Fredericksburg share third with Speed Williams of DeLeon and Allen Bach of Weatherford at 4.6. Joshua Torres and Troy Hudson of Lake Charles, La., were the only team from the evening session to get in money contention with a 4.9.
The Bell County pair of Donnie Rhoades and Billy Dean Adamson won the local team roping finals with a combined score of 32.6, topping Michael and Monte Schoepf at 36.29.
The vast majority of a loaded field of barrel racers competed prior to Thursday’s evening go-round, but Colorado City’s Terra Bynum moved into second in a time of 15.49 seconds. She was one of just five professional barrel racers to compete at night.
Bynum trails Floridian Margo Peters, who had a 15.47 earlier. Lynn Hinds of Waller is in third at 15.55, followed by Cyndi Terry of Loraine at 15.58 and Taryn Sheldon of College Station at 15.80.
Three local youth cowgirls competed in the evening. Eight-year-old Kinley Ann Urbanousky of Eddy topped her two 12-year-old rivals in the barrel race in a time of 16.83. Kourtney Walker of Salado finished in 17.29 and Shelby Fields of Rogers posted a 19.06.
Thursday night was Military Appreciation Night. Tonight’s evening go-round will begin at 7:30.
sports@temple-telegram.com
