Lewiston Roundup: Split seconds make the difference

It doesn’t get much closer in rodeo, a mere tenth of a second.

But that was the difference in the tie-down roping contest at the Lewiston Roundup on Friday night.

Kincade Henry, of Mount Pleasant, Texas, edged out Zack Jongbloed, of Iowa, La., by that razor-thin margin.

Henry, ranked 16th in the world, roped his calf, lept from his ride and hit the ground running, flipped the calf and furiously tied three of its legs in just 9.6 seconds.

Jongbloed did the same, but in 9.7 seconds.

Contestants typically try to learn as much as they can about the animal they draw before the competition, but Henry said the Roundup Grounds’ remote location kept him from doing his homework.

“I didn’t know much (about my calf),” he said. “We don’t have phone service out here, so I couldn’t do research.”

But it didn’t seem to matter, as the old sixth sense took over as soon as the calf broke out of the chute with Henry in hot pursuit.

“The only thing I see is the head start, and the rest is all instinct,” he said.

Contrast that with steer wrestler Brady Boyce, who was able to post the night’s best time by doing some advance work to get inside his animal’s head.

“I just knew what the steer was going to do,” Boyce said. “I saw a guy run him in slack (Tuesday), so I knew he was going to start slower, and that he’s a really good steer. You try to get as much info on the steers as you can.”

The Lewistown, Mont., cowboy was the quickest to pin his animal to the Roundup turf. He had the animal down with all four legs up in a speedy 5.4 seconds.

Amanda Welsh, of Gillette, Wyo., made a name for herself at the Roundup grounds. Not only did she have the fastest time of the night around the barrels, according to announcer Will Rasmussen, she had the best barrel racing time ever recorded at the Lewiston Roundup Grounds, with a 16.92-second ride. The crowd could see and sense the speed and roared as she rounded the last barrel and flew home.

Grace Ribbeck, of Newman Lake, Wash., had the best ride of the night and of the week in the amature barrel race with a time of 18.42 seconds.

Ribbeck said the good bloodlines and anxious disposition of her mount, H.F. Lawless Lucy, contributed to her fast time.

“This is her first year working barrels, and this is our first big rodeo,” Ribbeck said, beaming. “She’s just amazing. She was trained as a reining horse, but she didn’t like that. She just wanted to go fast. Tonight, as soon as she saw them dropping the barrels, she was ready.”

The saddle bronc riders just kept outdoing each other with scores in the 80s. Ryder Wright, a two-time world champion, outdid them all by leaps and bounds with the final bronc of the night that scored an 88.5 The Beaver, Utah, cowboy stayed atop Marquee despite furious front-to-back kicking by the horse.

“That’s an awesome horse,” he said. “It’s the third time I’ve been on her, so I know she bucks every single time. And that’s what matters.”

Wright earned a Pendleton blanket from Roundup Director and Nez Perce Tribal member Nakia Williamson for posting the night’s best score. He said the honor was especially meaningful because of its novelty.

“It’s cool to get different things like this,” he said, carefully folding the vibrant blue blanket and placing it back in its box. “I’m probably going to go to bed and sleep with it.”

Tilden Hooper, of Fort Worth, Texas, and the No. 2 bareback rider in the world this week likely held that spot at the very worst with a rollicking ride on Many Enemies that scored an 83 and won the evening.

“That’s a nice little young horse,” Hooper said. “It was fun. She got up in the air real high, and the higher you get, the more you can show off.”

Clayton Biglow, of Clement, Calif., took second with a wild ride on Trilogy. He made the bell and then some, and the horse kept bucking well after the buzzer and even eluded chasers. Bigalow scored 80 points.

But Cooper Bennett, of Nephi, Utah, won the people’s choice award with a ride aboard Mustard. The white horse had massive hops, repeatedly getting all four legs off the ground. The crowd loved it, but the judges gave him only a 73. The Roundup faithful booed when the score was announced.

Breakaway roper Sarah Verheilst, of Pryor, Okla., put on a show. With a lightning-quick time of 2.4 seconds, her ride seemed like it was over before it began. She praised the combination of her gelding Stony and the animal she lassoed.

“You have to draw the right calf, and my horse just scored great,” she said, adding that it is good that rodeos like the Roundup are adding breakaway roping to their events. “It’s pretty exciting for people like me who have roped our whole lives.”

Trey Kimzee, of Strong City, Okla., was the only bull rider to make it to the bell. He scored an 86.4 for the spinning ride.

“I knew as soon as I showed up I had an awesome bull,” Kimzey said of getting revenge against Vegas, the bull that bucked him off two years ago at Filer, Idaho. “He’s just pretty good to ride, pretty flashy and gets up off the ground.”

Reigning world champs Colby Lovell, of Madisonville, Texas, and Paul Eaves, of Lonedell, Mo., had the top team roping time. They handcuffed their calf, front to back, in a speedy 4.6 seconds.

Thousands of rodeo fans took in the show on what was a pleasantly cool night that began with a threat of rain that never materialized. Of those, 1,380 donned pink to match the night’s theme Tough Enough to Wear Pink. The Roundup donates $1 to local breast cancer charities for each fan wearing pink.

Masks and other facial coverings were few and far between among the announced crowd of 3,556. Public Health – Idaho North Central District recommends vaccination and mask wearing for people attending large outdoor events where social distancing is difficult.

“If neither of those options are possible, it would be recommended to not attend or to accept that attending will place you in high risk of exposure, and we encourage you to quarantine after the event to protect those around you if you become ill,” said Tara Macke, spokeswoman for the health district.