Buddy Hawkins and Andrew Ward not only won the Average at the 2021 NFR, but they also set a new Average record.
The pair had six times faster than five seconds and placed in four rounds en route to an aggregate time of 54.70 seconds on 10 head. The pair was 44 seconds clear of the rest of the field and were one of two teams to catch all 10.
Andrew Ward said as they got deeper and deeper into the NFR, they became well aware of the opportunity to be the new record-holders.
“We knew about it, it got harder for me to go fast in the rounds, it kind of made the roping a little harder and a lot more mental,” he said.
The previous record was 59.1 by Jake Barnes/Clay O’Brien Cooper, which came in 1994.
Hawkins said that the fact the previous record stood for 27 years shows how hard it is to stay consistent at the Thomas & Mack Center.
