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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Red-Hot Rodeo

By Harold Smith
Mountain View Telegraph
    Garrit Haynes can stand tall. Haynes' woolly charge at the Fourth of July Junior Rodeo last week darted out of the chute and wound up in the far southeast corner of Moriarty's Heritage Arena. But the 4-foot-1, 42-pound mutton buster couldn't be dislodged.
    "I did good," said the 6-year-old Haynes, who will be a first-grader at South Mountain Elementary this fall. "I was squeezin' and liftin.' ''
    Haynes earned 64 points with the winning sheep ride. Carnuel's Austin Polk was second with 61 points and Tijeras' Bradon Bagon was third with 59.
    Polk, an Albuquerque Christian School second-grader, had a bit of bad luck. His sheep abruptly stopped running and bucking with two or three seconds left on the clock.
    "But I got it," said Polk of his completed ride. "I just try to ride the sheep and stuff."
    Eleven-year-old Tristen Howard earned the victory in calf riding. He was the only rider to stay aboard in both rounds, scoring 67 in the first and 59 in the second for a total of 126 points.
    "I stayed in the middle," said Howard, a 4-11, 89-pound Estancia Elementary sixth-grader-to-be. "But then I fell, and the calf stepped on my knee."
    Estancia's Mathew Sedillo placed second with 69 points, and Los Lunas' Lucas Padilla was third with 60.
    "I've been doing it quite a while," Howard said. "I'm riding calves, and I'll ride bulls, too."
    Brina Riley won the all-around cowgirl buckle in the 11- to 14-year-old age group.
    "This was real good day for me," said Riley, who was a fifth-grader at Estancia Elementary this past school year. "I love all the events. It's fun."
    Riley, 11, rode her paint, Deacon, in barrels and pole-bending. She also competed in goat-tying and flags.
    "The barrels were slippery," said Riley, who wore a deep blue western shirt fancily bedecked with sequins that matched a pair of blue-and-silver earrings. "I almost fell off."
    Saige Bell, a 9-year-old who lives in southern Torrance County near Cedarvale, was the victor in the 7-10 girls category.
    "I did pretty good," said Bell, who will he in the fourth grade at Corona Elementary. "I won all the events."
    Other locals who won their respective all-around crowns included Jake Chavez (11-14 boys), Tiffany Chavez (15-18 girls) and Robert Martinez (15-18 boys).
    But there were quite a few winners from elsewhere. The visitors were Hayley McNiel (0-6 girls), Diego Calderon (0-6 boys) and Brody Wade (7-10 boys).
    McNiel, a Peralta Elementary first-grader-to-be, won poles, flags and goat-tying.
    "I tied it," said McNiel of her goat performance. "And I tied it real good."
    Calderon, 6, will be in the first grade at Albuquerque's Los Ranchos Elementary.
    "I did pretty good in roping," he said.
    Brody, 8, will be a third-grader at Los Lunas' Valencia Elementary.
    The younger all-around reserve riders were Marisela Sandoval (0-6 girls), Garrett Wade (0-6 boys), Cameron Simkins (7-10 girls) and Justin Calderon (7-10 boys).
    The runners-up in the older age groups included Julie Weyrich (11-14 girls), Cody King (11-14 boys), Amanda Albright (15-18 girls) and John Chavez (15-18 boys).
    The winners were awarded buckles, said rodeo statistician Leslie Chavez.
    The other prizes were: collapsible feed/water buckets and toiletry bags, second place; wallets, third; bracelets or pocket knives, fourth; and "designer" hoof picks, fifth.