NFR Roundup

EVENT SUMMARY

NFR rookies often are intimidated by the event's 49-year history, big crowds and big paydays.

Bareback rider Justin McDaniel, 21, might have felt some butterflies during his first two nights at the Thomas & Mack Center, but they flittered away before Saturday's third go-round.

McDaniel, of Porum, Okla., not only won his first go-round worth $16,394, he broke a 5-year-old National Finals Rodeo record with a ride worth 91.5 points on J Bar J Ranch's Delta Ship before 17,523 fans.

"I can't hardly believe that," McDaniel said. "It hasn't quite set in yet. It's pretty awesome."

It also was the highest-marked ride of his brief career.

"There's no better feeling than to set a record, especially at the National Finals," said McDaniel, one of four rookies to get go-round wins Saturday. "It's a very cool feeling."

Much of the eight-second ride was off the ground as Delta Ship was more like a rocket with several big jumps. But McDaniel was expecting it.

"He's really wild and kind of a young horse that really, really gets up in the air. I knew I could win on him if I just did my part right," McDaniel said.

• ALL AROUND -- Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, finished second in team roping with heeler Patrick Smith of Midland, Texas, to win $12,956 apiece.

Brazile also was fourth in calf roping to win $6,875 to raise his season total to $309,474 and move $149,000 ahead of Josh Peek of Pueblo, Colo.

Peek finished out of the money in calf roping and steer wrestling.

• STEER WRESTLING -- Jason Miller won his first go-round in his second consecutive NFR by turfing his steer in 4.0 seconds.

It looked like a fast pen of steers, but Miller caught his at around halfcourt.

"Before the go-round, I thought a four-flat would be farther down the list," said Miller, 33, of Lance Creek, Wyo.

It's his third check of the 10-day rodeo, and he lauded the hazing of Curtis Cassidy, who also owns Miller's horse, Willie.

• TEAM ROPING -- Clay Tryan of Billings, Mont., and Walt Woodard of Stockton, Calif., won the go-round in 4.8 seconds and moved to third in header and heeler categories.

"This event is half our entire season," Woodward said of the earnings potential. "The strategy is to stick to the fundamentals, and think fundamentally and not emotionally."

Though it was Tryan's first go-round win this year, brother Travis Tryan and partner Michael Jones won on opening night and tied for first Friday.

"Our dad's happy, that's for sure," Clay Tryan said.

Their father, Dennis Tryan, roped at the 1984 NFR in Oklahoma City.

• SADDLE BRONC RIDING -- NFR rookie Justin Arnold won his first go-round. The 27-year-old from Santa Margarita, Calif., scored 86.5 on Big Bend Rodeo's Kool Toddy.

"The first couple rounds were a little shaky. It just feels good to break the ice," Arnold said.

Former world champion Jeff Willert had surgery Saturday to have a rod inserted into his fractured left femur, which was broken Friday when he was stepped on by his horse after dismounting from a second-place ride.

• CALF ROPING -- Hunter Herrin of Apache, Okla., tied his calf in 7.7 seconds to win the round and move to second in the world standings. It's the second straight year Herrin won the third go-round.

• BARREL RACING -- Lisa Lockhart of Oelrichs, S.D., completed the course in 13.89 seconds, the fastest run in this NFR.

The NFR rookie thought her time was 13.99 and was surprised when called to take a victory lap. She moved into the NFR event aggregate lead.

"It doesn't even cross my mind," she said of being the fastest so far.

• BULL RIDING -- Howdy Cloud scored 90 on Growney Brothers' God's Gift to finish first among the six riders who covered bulls. It was Cloud's first completed ride of the NFR.

"There were a bunch of bulls that you could have been 90 on. It was a rank pen tonight, and I just got one ridden," he said.

JEFF WOLF/REVIEW-JOURNAL