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Tie-Down Roping Arena Record Falls at Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

TTexan Sterling Smith did the nearly unimaginable at the third performance of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo. He set a new tie-down roping record at 9.4 seconds. The previous record of 9.9 was first set by Chad Johnston in 1997, then matched twice more before being broken on Monday. PRCA photo by Dan Hubbell

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – July 23, 2018 – Sterling Smith has won some legendary rodeos and had a lot of success as a tie-down roper in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, but what he did at the third performance of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.

Smith, from Stephenville, Texas, roped and tied a calf in the fastest time in the 122-year history of the rodeo in Frontier Park. The two-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) qualifier stopped the clock in 9.4 seconds a half second faster than the previous record of 9.9.

That was first set in 1997 by Chad Johnston from Cut Bank, Montana. Then, 17 years later, Cade Swor, from Winnie, Texas clocked another 9.9 here. Another Texan, Scott Kormos, matched it again in 2017.

“I had a really good calf,” Smith said. “I knew it was good and felt like I could be fast. I’m still letting it soak in. My horse worked perfect and it just came together.”

The first person Smith was going to call after catching his breath, watching the rest of the ropers compete and talking to the media, was his dad, Brad Smith, who was the 1978 world champion team roper. Because team roping was added to the roster of events at the “Daddy of ‘em All” for the first time in 2001, Smith’s father has never competed here.

“He always wants to know how I did,” Smith added. “My whole family is really supportive and since everyone ropes, they all want to know how things are going.”

Smith will rope his second calf here tomorrow and if he has another solid run, he will have a lot to report back home. He is riding a 10-year-old gelding owned by his girlfriend that they call Pepto.

“Pepto works really good here. He’s patient,” he said. “He seems to fit me really well and has made a big difference for me this year.” Sterling was ranked 12th in the PRCA world standings prior to competing here.

Two-time Cheyenne Frontier Days Champion bareback rider Will Lowe is making a bid for a third title. His 86.5-point ride on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s horse Pretty Woman took the lead in the first round on Monday.

Caldwell, Idaho’s Brady Portenier vaulted to the top of the first-round bull riding leaderboard when he rode Smith, Harper & Morgan’s bull #419 for 88 points, a half-point better than Pleasanton, Nebraska’s Bart Miller.

The fourth performance of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo will see all contestants making their second appearance here. Competition gets underway at 12:45 p.m.


The following are current leaders from the 122th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo after the third performance.

Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, Will Lowe, Canyon, Texas, 86.5 points on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s Pretty Woman. 2, Seth Harwick, Ranchester, Wyo., 85.5 3, (tie) Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, and Jamie Howlett, Weatherford, Texas, 85 points. 5, Kyle Charley, Lukachukai, Ariz., 84. 6, Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev., 82. (second round) 1, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Ca., 87.5 points on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s Wilson Sanchez. 2, Lane McGeHee, Victoria, Texas, 85. 3, Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 84. 4, Jake Brown, Cleveland, Texas, 80.5. 5, (tie) Tate Schwagler, Mandan, N.D., and Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 80. (overall leaders) 1, McGeHee, 166. 2, Bennett, 165.5. 3, Biglow, 163. 4, Schwagler, 161.5. 5, Denny, 157. 6, Laye, 156.5.

Steer Wrestling: (first round) 1, Curtis Cassidy, Donalda, Alberta, 6.4 seconds. 2, Jacob Edler, Dacoma, Okla., 6.5. 3, Sam Olson, Buffalo, S.D., 6.9. 4, Chase Black, Coalville, Utah, 7.3. 5, (tie) Miguel Garcia, Kaycee, Wyo., and Cody Kroul, Solon, Iowa, 7.6 . (second round) 1, Nick Guy, Sparta, Mich., 8.3 seconds. 2, Cody Harmon, Dublin, Texas, 8.9. 3, (tie) Scott Guenthner, Provost, Alberta, and Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, Idaho, 9.1. 5, Straws Milan, Cochrane, Alberta, 9.3. 6, Kelby Bond, Avondale, Co., 10.1. (overall leaders) 1, Cassidy, 16.7. 2, Guy, 16.8. 3, Milan, 17.5. 4, Tom Lewis, Lehi, Utah, 18.3. 5, Garcia, 18.6. 6, Kelby Bond, Avondale, Co., 18.7.

Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, Jacobs Crawley, Boerne, Texas, 82 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Native Fringe. 2, Hawkins Boyce, Malad, Idaho, 80. 3, (tie) Taygen Schuelke, Newell, S.D.; Chanse Darling, Hyattville, Wyo., and Leon Fountain, Socorro, N.M., 79. 6, JJ Elshere, Hereford, S.D., 78. (second round) 1, Jake Wright, Milford, Utah, 85 points on Hi Lo ProRodeo’s Peanut Butter Oreo. 2, Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 84.5. 3, Chase Brooks, Deer Lodge, Mont., 84. 4, (tie) Joe Harper, Paradise Valley, Nev., and Tyrell J. Smith, Sand Coulee, Mont., 80. 6, Alex Wright, Milford, Utah, 79.5. (overall leaders) 1, Thurston, 159.5. 2, Alex Wright, 156.5. 3, Fountain, 156. 4, Harper, 154. 5, Clay Elliott, Nanton, Alberta, 150.5. 6, Ross Griffin, Tularosa, N.M., 149.5.

Team Roping (first round) 1, Ty Bach, Mt. Vernon, Texas, and Trey Johnson, Weatherford, Texas, 7.0 seconds. 2, (tie) Paul David Tierney, Oklahoma City, Okla., and Tanner Braden, Dewey, Okla.; and Cody Callaway, Gillette, Wyo., and Clay Johnson, Rozet, Wyo., 8.0. 4, Jeff Flenniken, Caldwell, Idaho, and Jake Minor, Ellensburg, Wash., 8.3. 5, Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta, and Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alberta, 8.4. 6, Chris Francis and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 8.6. (second round) 1, Garrett Tonozzi, Fruita, Co., and Joe Mattern, Plantersville, Texas, 7.5 seconds. 2, Kellan Johnson and Jhett Johnson, Casper, Wyo., 7.6. 3, Trevor Brazile, Decatur, Texas, and Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, 7.7. 4, Derrick Begay, Seba Delkai, Ariz., and Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz., 8.5. 5, (tie) Clint Gorrell, B, N.D., and Drew Gartner, Killdeer, N.D.; and Cole Dorenkamp, Lamar, Co., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Co., 8.6. (overall leaders) 1, Francis and Passig, 17.5. 2, Bach and Johnson, 18.3. 3, White and Wakefield, 18.5. 4, Begay and Petska, 18.7. 5, Harris and Carson, 19.1. 6, Jr. Dees, Aurora, S.D., and Cody Cowden, Atwater, Ca., 19.3.

Rookie Saddle Bronc Riding (first round) 1, Lane Schuelke, Newell, S.D., 77 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Watch This. 2, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 74.5. 3, Louis Aguirre, Sabinas, Mexico, 74. 4, (tie) Will Pollock, Utopia, Texas, and Logan Cook, Alto, Texas, 71. 6, Jacob Kammerer, Philip, S.D., 70. (second round) 1, Rowdy Chesser, 74 points on Use Primary’s Stan Headings. 2, Corey LeFebre, Bloomfield, N.M., 71. 3. Cree Minkoff, Billings, Mont., 70. 4, Weston Mann, Sheridan, Wyo., 70. 5, Wright, 62. 6, Tyler Friend, Driggs, Idaho, 58. (overall leaders) 1, Wright, 136.5 points. 2, Chesser, 130. 3, Jake Running Crow, Billings, Mont., 124. (on one) 4, Schuelke, 77, 5, Aguirre, 74. 6, Cook, 71.

Tie-down Roping (first round) 1, Sterling Smith, Stephenville, Texas, 9.4 seconds. 2, Treg Schaack, Canyon, Texas, 10.1. 3, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 10.3. 4, Clint Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 10.6. 5, Cimarron Boardman, Stephenville, Texas, 10.7. 6, (tie) Brent Lewis, Pinon, N.M., and Riley Pruitt, Gering, Neb., 10.9. (second round) 1, Adam Gray, Seymour, Texas, 10.3. 2, Austin Barstow, Springview, Neb., 10.8. 3, Billy Hamilton, Stigler, Okla., 11.6. 4, John Douch, Huntsville, Texas, 11.8. 5, Bode Scott, Pryor, Mont., 12.0. 6, Tim Pharr, Resaca, Ga., 12.1. (overall leaders) 1, Gray, 22.9. 2, Cooper, 23.3. 3, Boardman, 23.6. 4, (tie) Pharr and Ryan Watkins, Morgan Mill, Texas, 25.1. 6, Caleb Bullock, Boise City, Okla., 25.4.

Barrel Racing: (second round leaders) 1, Lacinda Rose, Willard, Mo., 17.65 seconds. 2, Billie Ann Harmon, Dublin, Texas, 17.68 seconds. 3, Michelle Darling, Medford, Okla., 17.76. 4, Becki Mask, Amarillo, Texas, 17.88. 5, Laura Lambert, Wiggins, Co., 17.91. 6, Wanda Brown, Edgemont, S.D., 17.92. (overall leaders) 1, Rose, 35.77 seconds. 2, Darling, 35.96 seconds. 3, Lambert, 36.00. 4, Brown, 36.04. 5, Harmon, 36.1. 6, Mask, 36.34.

Bull Riding: (first round) 1, Brady Portenier, Caldwell, Idaho, 88 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan’s #419. 2, (tie) Jeff Bertus, Avon, S.D., and J.W. Harris, Goldthwaite, Texas, 86.5. 4, Elijah Mora, Wiggins, Co., 85.5. 5, Clayton Savage, Yoder, Wyo., 85. 6, Bart Miller, Pleasanton, Neb., 84.5. (second round – one ride) 1, Dillon Tyner, Eaton, Co., 85.5. (overall leaders – four rides) 1, Portenier, 88 points. 2, (tie) Bertus and Harris, 86.5. 4, Mora, 85.5. 5, Savage, 85. 6, Miller, 84.5.

Wild Horse Race: No qualified rides.

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