Athens Review, Athens, Texas

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August 14, 2010

BRETT HOFFMAN: Athens MDA Rodeo was a success

The Athens Review

ATHENS — During the traditional MDA Benefit Rodeo last weekend in Athens, the winning tie-down roping time was under 8 seconds. In the three roughstock riding events, every winner scored in the 80s.

Clayton Hamil won the tie-down roping title with blistering time of 7.8. He was 1.2 seconds faster than second place finisher Joe Keating.

In bareback riding, Winn Ratliff won the title with a score of 81 on Rafter G Rodeo’s Assault.  Jacobs Crawley paced the saddle bronc riding field with an 82 points aboard Rafter G Rodeo’s Black Bart. In bull riding, Casey Huckabee clinched the title with an  82 atop a bovine named Lunatic, owned by Stace Smith Pro Rodeos.

Smith, who is from Athens, was the MDA Benefit Rodeo’s senior stock contractor. Smith also is a six-time Stock Contractor of the Year in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.

In steer wrestling, Gerald Pasley won the title with a 4.2.  Shelly Morgan finished No. 1 in barrel racing with a 15.57.

The team roping concluded with a tie between Justin Lovell/J.W. Cotton and Jake Kropik/Michael Fortenberry. They each turned in a 6.0.

Commitment to excellence

When the small Texas Panhandle community of Silverton conducted its Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association show this weekend, it was apparent that the organizing committee was focused on bringing in tougher stock.

The livestock was furnished by the Carr Pro Rodeo Co., which has a reputation for providing broncs and bulls that can help cowboys earn higher scores. For example, the firm owns a high-profile bronc named Riverboat Annie, which helped Caleb Bennett win the bareback riding title last weekend in Lovington, N.M., with a lofty marking of 89.

A year ago, five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Ryan Gray of Petersburg scored a PRCA world record-tying 94-point bareback ride in Eagle, Colo., aboard the Carr horse Grass Dancer. On the weekend of July 28-31, three-time world champion bareback rider Will Lowe of Canyon won the 2010 Eagle, Colo., rodeo with an 89 atop Pink Cadillac, another tough Carr Pro Rodeo bronc.

The rodeo livestock company is managed by Pete and Sherrill Carr who base in Dallas and Athens.

Brett Hoffman, a Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame member, has written a rodeo column for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram during the past two decades. E-mail him at brett@myrodeoinsider.com.

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