BY BRETT NIERENGARTEN @PRORODEOBRETT
This past weekend illustrated June in ProRodeo perfectly, with 26 events, two being Playoff Rodeos, and notable victories by Rocker Steiner, Sage Newman, Shad Mayfield and Keenan Hayes.
- Saddle bronc rider Sage Newman won two of the biggest rodeos over the weekend, Parker County and Sisters. The Montana native has been a star in the regular season for the last two years, earning more than $500,000 combined. He is once again heating up as we approach 100 Rodeos in 100 Days. He scored 87.5 points in Weatherford and 86.5 points in Oregon. The two wins paid him $8,400 of the $9,600 he made across four rodeos.
- Bareback Rocker Steiner also won two rodeos on the weekend, and five of his last six rides have been 86.5 points or more. Steiner, who has gotten on less than 30 horses this season, took home the title at the Woodward Elks Rodeo (Oklahoma) and the Flagstaff Rodeo (Arizona). Steiner has won $13,000 since May 25 and two of those rides were 89 points. He is averaging 84.95 points after finishing second in the PRCA with an 84.16 average in 2023.
- Second-year bareback rider Dean Thompson is back to No. 1 in the PRCA Playoff Series after winning the Sisters Rodeo. Thompson was 88 points on a wild ride on Cowboy Fever of Corey & Lange Rodeo. He won close to $9,000 across three rodeos last weekend. He is No. 1 in the PRCA Playoff Series Standings and No. 4 in the World Standings.
- Shad Mayfield extended his No. 1 ranking in the PRCA Tie-Down Roping World Standings with a time of 7.7 seconds to win Parker County. Mayfield has earned close to $140,000 this season, putting him $16,000 ahead of Riley Webb’s pace last year when Webb set both the regular season and single-season tie-down roping earnings records. The win paid Mayfield $4,000, and he now leads the World Standings by more than $40,000.
- The Top 3 bareback riders in the PRCA World Standings are separated by less than $300. Reigning World Champion Keenan Hayes overtook the No. 1 spot by just $48 over Leighton Berry with five checks at five rodeos this weekend. The two were No. 1 and No. 2 in the World Standings at this time last year as well. Meanwhile, Cooper Cooke, who is looking to make his first NFR, sits just $260 behind Hayes.
- Bull rider Chase Dougherty has won a rodeo consecutive weekends. Dougherty has been stuck at No. 6 in the World Standings for a month now, but he’s doing everything he can about it. He won more than $6,000 for an 89-point ride in Sisters and also won nearly $4,000 at the Santa Maria Elks Rodeo (California) last week.
- Bareback rider Jake Lees has won a check on 11 of his last 12 rides since the beginning of May. He has won $18,000 in that timeframe. Most recently, he won more than $3,000 at the Livermore Rodeo (California) and Sisters with rides of 87.5 points and 83.5 points. He is No. 11 in the World Standings.
- Jake Smith/Douglas Rich are both up to No. 4 in the PRCA World Standings after a two wins and three checks of more than $2,000 at three rodeos. The pair were the only ones on the timed event end to win twice over the weekend and they did so with 4.2 seconds at the Pony Express Rodeo (Utah) and 5.3 at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show and Rodeo. They also added a 5.8 in Sisters for sixth place.
- Bareback rider Leighton Berry has won his hometown rodeo in Weatherford back-to-back years. Berry has now won seven times this year and four of them have come in Texas after he claimed the Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days title with 86.5 points on Pete Carr’s Drinkin Again.
