GUTHRIE, Okla. – The third round of the Timed Event Championship of the World proved to be a game-changer.
Pre-round leader Landon McClaugherty dropped out of contention moments after the round began Saturday afternoon at the Lazy E Arena. Past champions K.C. Jones, Kyle Lockett and Daniel Green swarmed the top of the leaderboard like buzzards, along with last year’s runner-up, Paul David Tierney, the son of four-time Timed Event champion Paul Tierney.
When Lockett and Green suffered 60-second penalties during the steer wrestling portion of the round, they fell out of the top five, and the younger Tierney saw his opportunity explode. The South Dakota cowboy posted a 49.0-second round, highlighted by a 4.9-second steer wrestling run, to score the fastest round of this year’s competition so far. It also catapulted Tierney into the lead in the average with a 15-run cumulative time of 187.9 seconds.
“I’m feeling good right now,” said Tierney, who owns an 11.8-second lead over Jones, the five-time champion from Burlington, Wyo. “I’ve made a couple mistakes that I shouldn’t have made, but I’m starting to get it smoothed out and calmed down again.”
It takes a calm demeanor during this event, dubbed the “Ironman of ProRodeo” because of all the challenges that come from competing in all five timed-event disciplines. Not only did he have a world champion to teach him the ropes, but Tierney also learned a few things from his strong finish a year ago.
“It taught me that I needed to get a time on every one and, at the end, it’ll play out for you and let you win something,” he said. “You want to be consistent and don’t be yourself. You just need to go out there and make the run you need to make.”
Now he holds the lead in the most unique event in rodeo, and he’s got two more rounds and 10 more runs to make to secure his place in Timed Event Championship history.
RESULTS
AVERAGE LEADERS: 1. Paul David Tierney, 187.9 seconds; 2. K.C. Jones, 199.7; 3. Russell Cardoza, 214.4; 4. Clay Smith, 219.3; 5. Dustin Bird, 239.5; 6. Daniel Green, 242.9; 7. Clayton Hass, 247.9; 8. Jess Tierney, 248.3.
ROUND 3: 1. Paul David Tierney, 49.0 seconds; 2. Russell Cardoza, 55.9; 3. Dustin Bird, 64.3; 4. Jess Tierney, 64.5; 5. Mike Outhier, 68.2; 6. K.C. Jones, 70.
FASTEST ROUND LEADERS: 1. Paul David Tierney, 49.0; 2. Russell Cardoza, 54.6 seconds; 3. Russell Cardoza, 55.9; 4. K.C. Jones, 56.7; 5. Trell Etbauer, 56.8; 6. (tie) Kyle Lockett and Landon McClaugherty, 57.2.