Nick Price led off Thursday’s bull-riding event with an outstanding performance, but that remains the only victory man has had against the animals so far.
No rider came close to completing an 8-second ride on the second day of the 84th Annual Fourth of July PRCA Rodeo at Bell County Expo Center on Friday, leaving the bull-riding event and several others up for grabs today.
Price, ranked No. 47 in the PRCA bull-riding standings, scored an 89 while riding the bull Slim Stinger on Thursday night. He remains in first because the 11 riders after Price have all been bucked off and failed to post a score.
If you were late getting to your seats at the start of the rodeo, you might have missed Friday’s top ride.
Troy Nail of Kemp rode the horse Medicine Man for an 87 in bareback riding to take the outright lead over Hillsboro’s Jake Brown, who scored a 77, heading into today’s final round. After his ride, Nail, a rising superstar in the event, threw his hands up in the air and celebrated, knowing he had turned in a top-notch effort.
Needville’s Justin Macha recorded a time of 8.9 seconds in tie-down roping to take the overall lead by a full second over 47-year-old Neal Felton, who had a 9.9 on Thursday. Three riders later, George Rowland of Paradise topped Macha with a time of 8.8 seconds to take the outright lead. Stephenville’s Ryle Smith, a college national rodeo finalist, is in third with a time of 9.4 seconds.
In steer wrestling, Shane Sparks of Hendrix, Okla., appeared to take the overall lead from Austin's Dusty McKenzie with a 4.8-second ride. But a penalty infraction for crossing the barrier early cost him 10 seconds and McKenzie retained his lead.
The duo of Shane Pascal of Nome and Cliff Williamson of Liberty scored the second-fastest time, 5.4 seconds, in team roping. They trail Dakota Shipp and Trey Norris III, who had a 5.2 on Thursday.
Dustin Morgan and Ernie Bacon, both of Ada, Okla., recorded a 5.5 and sit in third place. Belton’s team of Taylor Mitchell and Joe Beers failed to record a time.
Lynn Hinds of Waller raced around the barrels in a time of 16.26 seconds, just edging Jordon Peterson’s time of 16.28 on Thursday. All 10 riders avoided a time infraction for knocking over a barrel, including Salado’s Karilee Eddleman, who finished in 18.98 seconds.
Jesse James Kirby of Ashland, Kan., was one of two riders to record a score in the 7-man saddle-bronc event. He had a 77, which is fourth behind an 82 by leader Curtis Garton.
Cody Dollins scored a 72 in the junior bull-riding event.
The third and final of the rodeo’s performances begins tonight at 7.
