Sep 18 2009
Contestants prepare for final day of 99th Pendleton Round-Up rodeo on Saturday.
Bull rider Colin McTaggart scores 90 to win the event on Friday.
Pendleton, Oregon (Sept. 18, 2009)–Las Vegas bull rider Colin McTaggart drew a hand that threw him for a loss only six days ago but today it was a winner as he rode Lippy to a high score of 90 in the third day of the 99th annual Pendleton Round-Up. For the 24-year-old it was a matter of getting even. The Round-Up concludes on Saturday when a sellout crowd will find out who wins each of the eight Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association events and the All Around title for the highest scoring participant.
”I just got on him six days ago and only stayed on him for two jumps,” McTaggart said after his ride. “So I knew what he was goin’ to feel like and what he was goin’ to do, but I just needed to go around that corner and go the whole ride with him. I kind of got even today.”
McTaggart is looking forward to winning the bull riding event on the last day of the Round-Up Saturday. And he plans to return next September when the Round-Up celebrates its 100th anniversary.
”I love comin’ here. It’s unlike any other rodeo you go to, I mean there’s somethin’ to watch throughout the whole rodeo, not a boring minute,” he said with a grin. “I think I already have the finals made but this should guarantee it,” he said, referring to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo held each December in his home town, equal to the World Series in baseball or the Super Bowl in football.
He should make good on his goal. Since joining the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in 2004 he has earned nearly $250,000 in prize money and won five rodeos already this year. And he has already won at the WNFR in 2007. Last but not least are his genes-both his dad and granddad were pro rodeo contestants.
Behind McTaggart in the bull riding event were Brandon Reynolds, Pike Road, AL on Cadillac Jack with 87, and Souli Shanklin, Rocksprings, TX, riding Redneck to an 83.
In other rough stock (bucking) events, Clint Cannon, Waller, TX, rode Home Spun to an 85 in the bareback event. The onetime bareback rookie of the year-he turned pro in 2003-has won in 12 rodeos this year. The central figure in two French movies about modern American cowboys, Cannon, 30, also can point to a genetic factor. His dad competed in rodeo for over 20 years.
He was followed by Aussie Dave Worsfold in second place, mounted on Broadwater. . Worsfold, 26, and a three-year veteran of the PRCA was state champ in Queensland in 2003. In third was James Sursa, Bluebell, UT, riding Lone Wolf.
In the final bucking event, saddle bronc riding, first place honors went to two cowboys, tied at 81. Isaac Diaz, Stephenville, TX, on Liberty, and Chad Ferley, Oelrichs, SD, on Cotton Wood, led the event for Friday.
Diaz, who turned 23 on Tuesday, has won over $220,000 in his three years as a pro, while Ferley, 29, and an eight year veteran of the PRCA, has banked over $525,000 and captured a world title in 2006. He missed two months of competition this spring after a rodeo injury in April.
Also tied, for second place, were Taos Muncy, Corona, NM, on Jughead, and Kayle Gray, Cheney, WA, on Juke Box. Both scored 80. Muncy, 22, has already won over $250,000 in two years as a pro and was a world champion in 2207. He suffered broken bones in both 2008 and earlier this year in rodeos but appears to come back quickly. In third place, no tie, but almost, was Jesse James Kirby, Dodge City, KS, riding Classic Fox to a 79. James, 28, was an all around high school rodeo champion in his home state of Kansas.
Moving to the roping events, in tie down roping, the Peek brothers, Josh and Jeremiah took first and second respectively. Hailing from Pueblo, CO, Josh, who turned 30 last week, took first with a time of 12.2 seconds while Jeremiah, at 25 the youngest of the three Peek rodeo cowboys, captured second in 15.1. In third place was a local favorite, Seth Hopper, “Hop”, of nearby Stanfield, OR, with 16.9 seconds. The 31-year-old, a pro since 1998, has won over $275,000 in competition.
In team roping, an event where one cowboy ropes a steer’s horns as quickly as possible from a run, followed by his partner, who ropes the steer’s hind feet, the winners were also brothers and also from the local region, winning with a time of 11.8 seconds. The two have made a name for themselves on the pro circuit, winning a combined half million dollars since Brady, 24, and Riley, 21, turned pro in 2004 and 2006 respectively. Their hometown, Ellensburg, WA, inducted the two into its rodeo hall of fame two years ago.
Following them in second place were Mel Coleman, Phoenix, AZ and Casey Smith, also from Ellensburg, WA. In 12.2 seconds. Taking third were Jake Rodriguez, Livermore, CA, and Evan Arnold, Santa Margarita, CA, in 21.1. Testifying to the difficulty of the team roping event, none of the other nine teams on Friday were able to record a time.
In the final roping event, steer roping, an Oregonian, Dave Inman, Redmond, took first with a time of 13.9 seconds, followed by a second Oregonian, Brandon Beers, Powell Butte, 17.8, and in third David Motes, Tolar, TX, 27.8. Beers, 23, is the son of famed roper Mike Beers and competes in team roping with his dad, where the two have been very successful, allowing the son to win nearly $200,000 in his four pro years. He was the PRCA team roping rookie of the year in 2005.
In the only women’s event at the Pendleton Round-Up, barrel racing, first place Friday went to Linzie Walker, Conway, WA, with a time of 28.32. Walker, who took third place in the event last week in Spokane, won the event in Pendleton the past two years following her first year in 2006 when she was the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association’s rookie of the year. Behind her were Marvel Murphy, Fallon, NV, 28.83, and Jackie Rhoden, Prineville, OR, 28.95.
Finally, in the steer wrestling event first place was won by Josh Peek, Pueblo, CO, who also won the tie down roping event in 5.6 seconds. In second place was Olin Hannum, West Haven, UT, with a time of 5.7, followed in third by a tie between Judd Austin, Preston, ID, and local favorite Blake Knowles, Heppner, OR, both with 6.3. Knowles, who turned 27 last week, is the son of famed bronc rider Butch Knowles.
