(PRCA release)
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Even though he isn’t a full-fledged card holding member of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), Lane McGehee is at the top of the bareback riding field at the 122nd Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.
When a rodeo contestant joins the PRCA, they first get their permit. When they earn enough money on their permits they are eligible to become card holders. They can continue to compete as a permit holder while they are in college. McGehee, a student at Sam Houston State University is riding on his permit and focusing on his education. He competed for them at the 2017 College National Finals Rodeo and left with the championship as a freshman.
The Victoria, Texas, resident has won over $21,000 this year as a permit holder and currently leads those standings. He stands to add to that significantly with the success he is having in Frontier Park. He had his first horse here on Saturday and did well enough to have an 81 by his name. Then he came back on Sunday for his second competition where he was 85 on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Witchy Woman. That put him in the lead for the second round. His total of 166 points is also at the top of the overall standings.
“I didn’t know much about the horse but watched a video. It didn’t show anything like how the horse performed today,” McGehee said. “I knew it was going to be a nice horse. Once I nodded my head I just rode jump for jump and it worked out the way I wanted it to.”
This is not the first time that he has had success at the Daddy of ‘em All. Last year, McGehee got a good check here after tying for fourth place overall. His success this year has come following a long road to recovery after breaking his leg last November.
“I didn’t know what my come back would look like because it was such a major injury.” he said. “I just love riding bucking horses. My hope was that I would be able to come back strong and have everything work the way it is supposed to.”
It is a rarity for a permit holder to win a rodeo with the same prestige as Cheyenne’s.
“It would mean the world to win this rodeo,” he added. “Just to be able to call home and tell them I’m doing a good job would be great.
“I just ride my bucking horses and put on the best spur ride I can. I let everything fall the way it does. If that is me winning, then that’s me winning and I’m blessed.”
The 2016 world champion saddle bronc rider, Zeke Thurston, is looking for his first buckle from Cheyenne. He scored 84.5 points on Sunday, currently first in the second round and overall with 159.5 points on two head. Thurston and his wife, Jayne are expecting their first baby any day now and he says he is more than excited for the arrival.
Texans Ty Bach and Trey Johnson are setting their sights on Championship Sunday after making a business man’s run of 11.3 seconds for their second run. After their seven-second run yesterday, they moved into second overall 18.3 seconds on two head.
Billie Ann Harmon of Dublin, Texas had the quickest time in the second round of barrel racing with her 17.68-second run. She is now second in the average with a total of 36.14 seconds on two runs, riding a seven-year-old mare named Moon that she bought last year. Her husband Cody has also had some success here. He is second in the second round of steer wrestling with an 8.9-second run.
The third performance of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo will highlight Military Monday, with the grand entry and pageantry starting at 12:45 p.m.
Bareback Riding: (first round) 1, (tie) Jake Vold, Ponoka, Alberta, on United Pro Rodeo’s Pow Wow Nights and Jamie Howlett, Weatherford, Texas, on Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s JBC Bent Rail Sourdough, 85 points each. 3, Wyatt Denny, Minden, Nev., 82. 4, (tie) Tate Schwagler, Mandan, N.D., and Caleb Bennett, Tremonton, Utah, 81.5. 6, Lane McGeHee, Victoria, Texas, 81. (second round) 1, McGeHee, 85 points on Stace Smith Pro Rodeos’ Witchy Woman. 2, Bennett, 84. 3, (tie) Schwagler and Clint Laye, Cadogan, Alberta, 80 each. 5, Taylor Broussard, Estherwood, La., 79. 6, Craig Wisehart, Kersey, Co., 75.5. (overall leaders) 1, McGeHee, 166. 2, Bennett, 165.5. 3, Schwagler, 161.5. 4, Laye, 156.5. 5, Wisehart, 156. 6, Howlett, 155.5.
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, Miguel Garcia, Kaycee, Wyo., 7.6. 6, Brady McFarren, Morris, Okla., 7.8. (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, Bond, 18.7.
Saddle Bronc Riding: (first round) 1, Hawkins Boyce, Malad, Idaho, 80 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Robinson Bulls’ Hullabaloo. 2, Chanse Darling, Hyattville, Wyo., 79. 3, Alex Wright, Milford, Utah, 77. 4, Zeke Thurston, Big Valley, Alberta, 75. 5, (tie) Joe Harper, Paradise Valley, Nev., and Ross Griffin, Tularosa, N.M., 74 each. (second round) 1, Thurston, 84.5 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo’s Shining Mountain. 2, Chase Brooks, Deer Lodge, Mont., 84. 3, (tie) Harper and Tyrell J. Smith, Sand Coulee, Mont., 80 each. 5, Alex Wright, Milford, Utah, 79.5. 6. Clay Elliott, Nanton, Alberta, 79. (overall leaders) 1, Thurston, 159.5. 2, Wright, 156.5. 3, Leon Fountain, Socorro, N.M., 156. 4, Harper, 154. 5, Elliott, 150.5. 6, Griffin, 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, Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta, and Jeremy Buhler, Arrowwood, Alberta, 8.4. 5, Chris Francis and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., 8.6. 6, Tyler Waters, Stephenville, Texas, and Cody Hogan, Bentonville, La., 9.3. (second round) 1, Garrett Tonozzi, Fruita, Co., and Joe Mattern, Plantersville, Texas, 7.5 seconds. 2, Derek Begay, Seba Delkai, Ariz., and Cory Petska, Marana, Ariz., 8.5 seconds. 3, (tie) Clint Gorrell, Beach, N.D., and Drew Gartner, Killdeer, N.D.; and Cole Dorenkamp, Lamar, Co., and T.J. Watts, Eads, Co., 8.6. 5, (tie) Chris Francis and Cade Passig, Las Vegas, N.M., and Scott White, Oelrichs, S.D., and Riley Wakefield, O’Neill, Neb., 8.9.
(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, Tierney and Braden, 22.3.
Rookie Saddle Bronc Riding (first round) 1, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 74.5 points on Use Primary’s Russ Kling. 2, Louis Aguirre, Sabinas, Mexico, 74. 3, Jake Running Crow, Billings, Mont., 69. 4, Rowdy Chesser, Kansas, Okla., 56. (second round) 1, Rowdy Chesser, 74 points. 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, Running Crow, 124. (on one) 4, Aguirre, 74. 5, LeFebre, 74. 6, Minkoff, 70.
Tie-down Roping (first round) 1, Treg Schaack, Canyon, Texas, 10.1 seconds. 2, Cole Bailey, Okmulgee, Okla., 10.3. 3, Clint Cooper, Decatur, Texas, 10.6. 4, Cimarron Boardman, Stephenville, Texas, 10.7. 5, Brent Lewis, Pinon, N.M., 10.9. 6, Josh Jennings, Glendale, Utah, 11.1. (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 each. 6, Caleb Bullock, Boise City, Okla., 25.4.
Barrel Racing (second round leaders) 1, Billie Ann Harmon, Dublin, Texas, 17.68 seconds. 2, Michelle Darling, Medford, Okla., 17.76. 3, Jessica Stolzenberger, Wellington, Co., 17.86. 4, Jodee Miller, Magnolia, Texas, 18.01. 5, Carley Richardson, Pampa, Texas, 18.09. 6, Rainy Pratt, Stephenville, Texas, 18.12. (overall leaders) 1, Darling, 35.96 seconds. 2, Harmon, 36.1. 3, Stolzenberger, 36.37. 4, Miller, 36.48. 5, Richardson, 36.49. 6, Pratt, 36.60.
Bull Riding: (first round – three rides) 1, Elijah Mora, Wiggins, Co., 85.5 points on Smith, Harper & Morgan’s Preifert Sweep. 2, Clayton Savage, Yoder, Wyo., 85. 3, Garrett Smith, Rexburg, Idaho, 80.5. (second round – one ride) 1, Dillon James Tyner, Eaton, Co., 85.5. (overall leaders – four rides) 1, Mora, 85.5. 2, Savage, 85. 3, Tyner, 82.5. 4, Smith, 80.5.
Wild Horse Race: 1, T-Joes Steak House, $610. 2, Dizzy Heifer Cattle Co., $457. 3, XINGULAR, $305.
