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By JON FULBRIGHT
Staff Writer
The leaders in the roping events stayed the same after Thursday night's
performance of the 114th Anniversary West of the Pecos Rodeo, while the
leaders in the riding events changed at the midway point of this year's
show.
Chris Harris of Arlington, Tx., and Cliff Norris of Goodwell, Okla., are
the new leaders in bareback and saddle bronc riding, while Tim Waid and
Mike White tied Chris Littlejohn for the lead in bull riding, with two
nights worth of riders remaining to perform.
Harris came up with an 80 point ride to take over the lead from Darren
Clark of Whitney, who scored 77 points on his ride Wednesday. Kansas
Cityian Rod Hughes was one points back, getting a 76 score in his
opening night performance, while two other cowboys who performed on the
first night, Tony Hecksher of Snyder and Denny McLanahan of Canadian,
Tx., were tied for fourth, at 74 points.
Norris' 76 point ride Thursday night was two points better than a trio
of cowboys. Kolt Dowdy of Crowley had held the lead since Tuesday's
special slack performance of saddle bronc riding. He was tied on
Wednesday for the lead by Skeeter Thurston of Hyannis, Neb., while
Justin Lane of Morse also came up with a 74 point ride during Thursday's
performance.
Pecos High School grad Jim Blain Kenney was tied for fifth with another
cowboy from Morse, Marty McCloy, at 73 points. Kenney earned his score
on Wednesday, though most of the fans had already left the arena by the
time he got his turn. Judges decided he should get a re-ride after his
horse, good Vibrations, went down to its knees coming out of the chute.
Littlejohn scored his 81 points during Tuesday's special slack
performance. That lead held up Wednesday before Waid, from Waco, and
White, of Lake Charles, La., came up with their rides Thursday. Cory
McFadden of Crane had the best bull ride of the night on Wednesday, a 78
point effort, which leaves him in fourth place overall.
In women's barrel race, the slack performance leader from Tuesday,
Sherri Cervi, joined Littlejohn in maintaining her first place standing,
though she is still alone atop the board. Cervi, from Marana, Ariz.,
came in with a 17.63 time on Tuesday, while Stephenville's Carissa
Allred had the top time Wednesday, a 17.92 effort that put her in second
place. That was beaten by .01 seconds on Thursday by Stacy Brent of
LaPort, while Kandace Smith of Fredonia and Tim Wilson of Sterling City
were just behind, with 17.94 and 17.95.
In the roping events, the leaders for both the second go-round and the
average were virtually unchanged, led by the arena record time Andrews'
Dan Fisher set on Wednesday. His 10.4 second effort was .6 seconds up on
Jerry Cox of Cotula.
Three-time West of the Pecos Rodeo All-Around champ Arnold Felts of
Sonora had an 11.3 second time for third place, while his 24.1 second
combined time leads all steer ropers. He has a good shot at a fourth
All-Around title, as he currently stands sixth in calf roping with two
nights to go.
Felts is nearly four seconds ahead of Doug Clark of Wayne, Okla., who
has a 28.1 second time for two rides. Jimmy Hodge of Lometa is third at
28.8 seconds.
The top five leaders in the second go-round of calf roping also were
unchanged after Thursday's show. Clay Cerny of Eagle Lake has a one
second lead over K.C. Jones of Abbyville, Kan., and Chase Wardlaw of
Sonora. Cerny roped his calf in nine seconds while Jones and Wardlaw are
tied with 10 flat times, followed by Cy Griffin of Eldorado and Bubba
Paschal of LaPorte at 10.2 and 10.3
On the average, the top six cowboys held their positions. Neal Felton of
Mountain Home leads with a 20.9 time for his two rides, while Trey Picou
III of Grand Chenier, La., is next at 21.8 seconds and DeLynn Jones of
Hobbs is third, at 22.8 seconds. Stamford's Raymond Hollabaugh (23
seconds), Ronnie Haecker of New Branufels (23.4) and Felts (23.5) hold
down the third through sixth slots.
Last year's world champion team ropers, Bobby Hurley and Allen Bach, are
among the leaders in that event, though they're there with different
partners. Hurley, of Cerces, Calif., is teamed with Cody Cowden of
LeGrand, Calif., and their 7.2 time remains tops in the second go-round.
Rube Woolsey of Dewey, Ariz., and Tanner Bryson of Cornville, Ariz., are
second, with a 7.7 time, and David Moates of Fresno, Calif. and Shot
Brenham of Midland are third, at 7.8.
Bach is teamed with Charles Poague of Ringling, Okla., and they are
sixth in the second go-round with an 8.1 second time, and fifth on the
average, at 16.5 seconds. The leaders there are Robert Gonzales of
Magnolia and Mickey Gomez of Belton, with a 15.6 time, while Shawn Grant
of Phoenix and Jeff Madlin of Tatum, N.M., are second at 15.9 seconds.
Moates and Branham are tied for third with Steve Purcella of Hereford
and Steve Northcutt of Odessa, at 16.1 seconds.
With a 4 flat time, Rope Myers of Van maintains the lead in the second
go-round of steer wrestling. He's a tenth of a second up on Shane
Paschal of LaPorte, with Dan Courmier of Oakwood third, at 4.3 seconds.
A quartet of cowboys - Picou, Steve Duhon of Sonora, Herbert Theriot of
Poplarville, Miss., and Greg Holmes of Durant, Okla. - are all tied for
fourth at 4.5 seconds.
Overall, Paschal leads on the average, at 9.2 seconds, followed by Jim
Bob Clayman at 9.5 and Duhon and Vince Walker of Brentwood, Calif., with
9.6 times.
The final two performances of the 1996 rodeo are tonight and Saturday at
the Buck Jackson Rodeo Arena, starting both nights at 8:30 p.m. Advance
tickets are $8 for reserved seats and $4 for general admission and can
be purchased at the Pecos Chamber of Commerce office on South Cedar
Street. Tickets at the gate are $10 for reserved seats and $6 for
general admission.
The Pecos Little League All-Stars will open their District 4 Tournament
season at home tonight, with a 7 p.m. game against Ballinger, and will
be hoping for the same type of success Pecos' Junior Leaguers enjoyed on
Wednesday, when they began tournament play with an east win over
Tri-County.
The 13-year-olds went to Miles and came away with a five-inning, 11-0
victory, which earned them another 200-plus mile trip next Tuesday to
San Angelo Lake View, for a second round game.
The Little Leaguers will be playing their first two games at home no
matter what the outcome is tonight. Manager Tony Aguilar said a win
would send them into a Sunday night game, while a loss would force Pecos
to come back on Saturday in a loser's bracket game of the
double-elimination tournament.
"I think we'll do pretty good," Aguilar said during practice Thursday.
He said he plans to start Richard Rodriguez on the mound, who helped
Aguilar's Rangers win this season's `A' Division title.
The team has been working out for two weeks now, and Aguilar said on
the final day before the tournament begins, "We got in a little bit of
batting practice, and also did a little bit of infield (defense)."
Pecos drew a first round bye while Ballinger comes into tonight's game
having already played once in the tournament. They opened District 4
play with a narrow 4-2 victory over Big Lake on Tuesday.
That was the same night Tri-County downed Ballinger's Junior Leaguers,
9-4, earning them Wednesday's game against Pecos. But the Juniors, most
of whom were members of last year's Little League team, scored eight
times in the first inning, then cruised behind the three-hit pitching of
Gilbert Fierro.
"It was mainly our defense and the errors Tri-County committed," said
coach James Herrera. "We got four earned runs in the first inning and
four unearned ones. Tri-County committed six errors and that kind of
locked up the game."
Herrera said Benny Juarez would add a triple and Chris Bryant had a
double later to help round out Pecos' scoring.
Fierro walked two batters and hit two others, while striking out five
in winning the game, which ended after five innings under the 10-run
rule. "The infield did a good job stopping the balls. Gilbert pitched
well but the defense also had a good game."
Pecos' Senior Leaguers won't get their tournament play underway until
Sunday evening. Like the Junior Leaguers, the 13- and 14-year-olds face
a long opening trip, as they'll play the winner of tonight's San Angelo
West-Tri County game on the road. But like the Little Leaguers, they'll
be hoping to earn a second round home game next Tuesday with a victory.
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