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In talking to Stran Smith on Friday, we got to talking a little about his friend, 14-time world champion Trevor Brazile. This last year, he won the tie-down roping world title, the heading world title and the all-around world title, the latter a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association record eighth. In winning three gold buckles, Brazile won the elusive Triple Crown for the second time in four years; he also won the Triple Crown in 2007. It took 24 years for someone to earn the coveted honor after Roy Cooper won the Triple Crown in 1983, then it took just three years for Brazile to match it. It’s a phenomenal feat. “But nobody’s talked about a quadruple crown,” Smith said, noting that Brazile has earned two world championships in steer roping. “Realistically he could win the quadruple crown.” As talented and focused as Brazile is, it could happen very soon, too.

Having a good start to any competition can pay off. That philosophy allowed Kaycee Feild to move on to Saturday night’s championship round of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Feild was one of 12 bareback riders in Friday night’s Wild Card round, where only the top two cowboys advanced. Canadian Luke Creasy won the round with an 83-point ride, while Feild tied four-time and defending world champion Bobby Mote and 2008 world champion Justin McDaniel with 80.5-point rides. But Feild, the son of five-time world champion Lewis Feild, advanced because he’d had such a strong Super Series. He has earned $10,983 so far and, like all the others who will compete Saturday, has a shot at winning the $50,000 prize that goes to the shootout winners in each event. Here’s the list of those Wild Card contestants who advanced to Saturday’s championship are: Tie-down roping: 1. Houston Hutto, 8.8 seconds, $9,017 overall; 2. Scott Kormos, 8.9, $7,850. Bareback riding: 1. Luke Creasy, 83 points, $6,100; 2. Kaycee Feild, 80.5, $10,983. Team roping: 1. Erich Rogers/Kory Koontz, 4.8 seconds, $20,700 each; 2. Keven Daniel/Caleb Twisselman, 5.0, $7,700 Saddle bronc riding: 1. Taos Muncy, 83.5 points, $9,100; 2. Cort Scheer, 82.5, $10,350. Steer wrestling: 1. Ethen Thouvenell, 4.3 seconds, $4,350; 2. Josh Peek, 4.4, $5,600. Bull riding: 1. Clint Craig, 84 points, $6,600; 2. Corey Navarre, 80, $3,100. Barrel racing: 1. Jeanne Anderson, 14.39 seconds, $5,850; 2. Kristen Williams, 14.43, $3,550.

He’s not quite sure how long of a break he’ll take, but Stran Smith will not be competing for some time. On Thursday, the 2008 world champion tie-down roper revealed he needs to heal. He had surgery a few weeks ago, then took a shot at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. He came back to the arena a little too early. So he’ll spend time at his Childress, Texas, home, which he shares with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Stone, Scout and 2-week-old Faleh. And he’ll heal. He’ll also get to spend time at home with the family, which is cherished by every rodeo cowboy. Of course, he’ll soon be on the road chasing another gold buckle, which is cherished by every rodeo cowboy.

Shane Hanchey, coming off his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, won tie-down roping during the RodeoHouston Shootout and the $50,000 first-place prize. Scott Kormos finished second.

Clint Cannon has made a pretty good living at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo over the past three years. He won the bareback riding shootout round two seasons ago. On Saturday afternoon, he won it again. Overall, he won more than $58,000. Three-time world champion Will Lowe finished runner-up.

Cody Doescher and Tommy Edens won team roping at Houston and the $50,000 first-place prize. They qualified for Saturday’s festivities by finishing fourth in the second semifinal.  

Cort Scheer’s first horse stalled at the gate, so after he secured a qualified ride, the Nebraska cowboy took his re-ride at Houston. Hey, $50,000 was on the line. So Scheer took advantage with a $60,350 finish, $50,000 of it from winning Saturday’s saddle bronc riding shootout.

Stockton Graves posted a 4.6-second run in RodeoHouston’s Shootout round Saturday afternoon, then he went straight to the pay window where he collected more than $58,000 for his work Harris County, Texas.

When she won the Pendleton (Ore.) Round-Up Rodeo last year, Jody Sheffield called it the biggest win of her career. I think she surpassed it Saturday by winning the shootout round at RodeoHouston.

Bobby Welsh won the bull riding at Houston with the only qualified ride in the shootout.

Dean Gorsuch has experienced almost everything in a career that has earned the Nebraska cowboy two steer wrestling world championships. On Friday night, Gorsuch didn’t make a run on the steer that was selected for him during the random draw at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. There was a problem, so Gorsuch had to wait until all the other nine bulldoggers had completed their semifinal run; then Gorsuch was matched against another steer, an extra, in an effort to qualify for Saturday’s championship shootout. But going last might’ve been a tremendous advantage. Looking at times of 4.6, 4.7 and 4.8 seconds in front of him, Gorsuch knew he had to be quick. A 3.8-second run did the trick, helping the champ collect an additional $2,350. More importantly, it guaranteed Gorsuch a chance to run at the $50,000 prize that goes to the shootout winners in each event. Friday’s 18th performance of RodeoHouston will feature the 12 contestants in each event who did not advance out of the two semifinals. The Wild Card round gives those cowboys and cowgirls another opportunity, but just the top two contestants advance to Saturday’s proceedings. Those who advanced from Thursday’s second semifinals were: Tie-down roping: 1. Tuf Cooper, 2. Shane Hanchey, 3. Josh Peek, 4. Clint Robinson Bareback riding: 1. Jessy Davis, 2. Dusty LaValley, 3. Steven Dent, 4. Royce Ford. Team roping: 1. Jay Adams/Randon Adams, 2. Ty Blasingame/Cody Hintz, 3. Brady Minor/Riley Minor, 4. Cody Doescher/Tommy Edens. Saddle bronc riding: 1. Jesse Wright, 2. Chad Ferley, 3. Chuck Schmidt, 4. Isaac Diaz. Steer wrestling: 1. Stockton Graves, 2. Dean Gorsuch, 3. Clayton Morrison, 4. Olin Hannum. Bull riding: 1. Bobby Welsh, 2. Steve Woolsey, 3. Kanin Asay, 4. Howdy Cloud. Barrel racing: 1. Jill Moody, 2. Kenna Squires, 3. Brittany Pozzi, 4. Lisa Lockhart.

The last several times Sherry Cervi and Stingray have competed inside Reliant Stadium for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, they’ve won. Cervi, the three-time and reigning Women’s Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing world champion, got a big boost in her 2010 season by winning RodeoHouston. This year, she and her trusty mount started hot, winning all three rounds in their Super Series. On Wednesday night, they remained hot by posting the fastest time in the first of two semifinals and earning a spot in Saturday night’s performance, where the champions in each event will be crowned and handed a Shootout check for $50,000. But Cervi has already had a financial windfall inside the stadium that houses the NFL’s Houston Texans, cashing in for an event best $12,350. The second set of semifinalists will battle it out for the next four spots in the finals. Each semifinal consists of 10 contestants in each event. The remaining six contestants in each semifinal – 12 total – will try to work their way to the final performance during Friday’s Wild Card round, where only the top two contestants in each event advance. Others to make it to Saturday’s show are: Tie-down roping: 1. Fred Whitfield, 2. Jerome Schneeberger, 3. Cody Owens, 4. Jerrad Hoffstetter. Bareback riding: Steven Peebles, 2. Tilden Hooper, 3. Clint Cannon, 4. Will Lowe. Team roping: 1 Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, 2. Matt Garza/David Key, 3. Brandon Beers/Mike Beers, 4. Travis Tryan/Rich Skelton. Saddle bronc riding: 1. Wade Sundell, 2. J.J. Elshere, 3. Rusty Allen, 4. Tyler Corrington. Steer wrestling: 1. Kyle Hughes, 2. Trevor Knowles, 3. Casey McMillen, 4. Curtis Cassidy. Bull riding: 1. Clayton Savage, 2. Clayton Savage, 3. Luke Haught, 4. Shawn Hogg. Barrel racing: 1. Sherry Cervi, 2. Jane Melby, 3. Jody Sheffield, 4. Annesa Self.

OKLAHOMA CITY – In just five years, Tyson Durfey has gone from relative obscurity to the national spotlight, considered one of the best tie-down ropers in the world. Durfey’s list of accomplishments is growing, and he’s itching to add the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo title to his resume. “It would be a pretty big thing for me,” said Durfey, who will make a run at the DNCFR when it runs March 31-April 3 at Jim Norick Arena at the State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. “I’d like to do things that I’ve never done before. I’ve never done really good at a circuit finals, so for me, it means just a whole lot. It’s great just to be able to rope and hopefully be able to bring a championship back.” This marks the fifth time in his career that Durfey has qualified for the DNCFR, which features the top contestants in each event from the 12 ProRodeo circuits. But in a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association career that dates just eight years, the Missouri-born calf roper has qualified four straight years for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and has earned two Canadian Professional Rodeo Association tie-down roping championships. “Making it to Oklahoma City is an accumulation of a year’s worth of work,” said Durfey, a second-generation calf roper. “That’s what everybody that goes to the circuit rodeos tries to do. I’m excited to go back to the championship and represent my circuit.” He expects having the DNCFR in Oklahoma City will be positive for the sport and for the contestants. “It’s going to be a new, exciting change,” Durfey said. “The finals had been in Pocatello, Idaho, for so long, and people just associated the circuit finals being there. Hopefully we’ll have warmer weather and we’ll get to see what kind of great things Oklahoma City has to offer.”

Tie-down roper Jerome Schneeberger didn’t win a single go-round during Super Series V at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. In fact, he didn’t even place until Tuesday’s final run of the series. But the 11-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier roped consistently, posting runs of 11.3 seconds, 11.0 and 11.1. That was good enough for second place in the three-head average, which is worth $2,250. Add that to the $500 he earned for his third-place finish Tuesday, and that’s how Schneeberger advanced into RodeoHouston’s semifinals, which begin Wednesday. He will be joined by Tuf Cooper, who won Super Series V with $7,000, Shane Hanchey and Nate Baldwin. Other series winners were: Bareback riding: Will Lowe, $8,000 Team roping: Derrick Begay/Cesar de la Cruz, $11,500 Saddle bronc riding: Wade Sundell, $7,500 Steer wrestling: Nick Guy, $7,000 Bull riding: Steve Woolsey, $8,500 Barrel racing: Deb Renger, $7,500

AUSTIN – To say the 2011 has been frustrating for barrel racer Tana Poppino might be a huge understatement. The three-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo from Big Cabin, Okla., has struggled on the rodeo trail. Both her horses, Amigo and Goose, have suffered some injuries, and that just compounds a potential lack of confidence in the world-class cowgirl. “I hadn’t won a dime all year, and that’s frustrating,” said Poppino, who runs this week at the Heart of Texas Fair and Rodeo. But there is no quit in Poppino, who has continued working through all those issues. She’s given the horses the best care possible, and she’s gaining more confidence with every run. Poppino ran last week at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; while success was limited, there was a bright spot. “Amigo made the best two runs that he’s ever made in the Reliant Stadium,” Poppino said. “Even though I got the first barrel in the second-go, our time was good.” In the third round of Super Series III at RodeoHouston, Poppino and her main partner finished in a tie for third place to secure $250. Although it wasn’t a big paycheck, it was finally something. The two standout athletes then followed it up with a solid run at the Marshall (Texas) ProRodeo, where they finished seventh and earned $415. “We’re on a roll,” Poppino said. “That’s two in a row. Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength.”

Utah bull rider Steve Woolsey has started off the final Super Series of RodeoHouston as hot as anybody can. Woolsey, a five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier hasn’t posted a big ride in two rounds inside Reliant Stadium, but the 79 Sunday and the 81 Monday were round wins and worth $2,000 each. Woolsey also is the only bull rider to earn two qualified rides, so he also leads the average as well as the overall earnings. Shawn Hogg, who was the runner-up Sunday night with a 74, and Corey Navarre, the No. 2 man Monday with an 80, have earned $1,000 each. But Woolsey has already clinched his spot in the semifinals, which begins Wednesday evening. Steer wrestler Nick Guy has almost assured himself of a spot in the next level of play at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Guy won the second round of Super Series V with a 4.7-second run. He also finished second Sunday night, so he leads the standings with $3,000 and the average with 10.1 seconds on two runs. Other leaders are barrel racer Deb Renger, $2,500; saddle bronc rider Wade Sundell, $3,000; team ropers Britt Williams and Bobby Harris, $5,000; bareback riders Will Lowe and Wes Stevenson, $2,000 each; and tie-down ropers Tuf Cooper, Shane Hanchey and Nate Baldwin.

GUYMON, Okla. – The Hitch name is as much a part of the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles as the communities the family ranch surrounds. It’s only fitting, then, that one of the biggest stadiums in No Man’s Land wears the family name. Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena is home to many of the big events that happen in Texas County, Okla. The biggest event is Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 6; 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 7; and 2 p.m. Sunday, May 8. “The Hitches were one of the first ranching families in the area, and rodeo has roots in ranching, so that’s appropriate,” said Melyn Johnson, director of Main Street Guymon and a longtime community supporter. “The Hitches came out before statehood. They were supporters of the community in more ways than anybody could imagine, and I don’t mean just money, but also in time and in passion. They’re probably as close to a community servant as you can get. “They really feel like they owe back.” The Hitch brand continues to be a major part of Guymon, and the arena is just one piece of the community that recognizes it. Hitch Arena is city property, not ranch property. Built in 1946, Pioneer Arena was remodeled in 1960, and the city has maintained and repaired it since. In the mid-1990s, renovations on the arena began, and it was rededicated then. That’s also when the name changed to Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena. “I know Ladd Hitch wanted it named after his dad,” said Johnson, who was part of the Pioneer Days Rodeo committee at the time. “I think it’s a family that belongs to the Plains more so than the Plains belong to them. They were supporters of the Guymon rodeo from Day 1. Yes, the arena is used for much more than rodeo, but the main thing is Pioneer Days Rodeo.” The renovations that began in 1994 were plenty, from tearing down the pens and chutes and rebuilding them to installing water lines, new arena lights and fixtures and putting up a new catwalk between the pens. Grant money was put together with local contributions to help fund the project, which was completed primarily by donated labor that reached into thousands of hours. Years later, rodeo committee members, local businesses and other volunteers built a new concessions area and a large building – outfitted with restrooms – used primarily for hospitality during the rodeo. The third phase of renovations involved Leadership Guymon and several other community volunteer groups built the handicapped accessible parking, covered seating for the handicapped and some landscaping. In 2010, Guymon’s Convention and Tourism department paid to have some new chutes installed, which was done by community volunteers and businesses. But the work is not done. “It’s important to the city to upgrade and maintain the arena, and we are doing that,” said Vicki McCune, the city’s community development director. City Manager Ted Graham said the city is fixing some concrete bleachers by repairing the steps and cracks on the bottom front side of the arena. “It’s like a makeover on some of the concrete stairwells to make it more appealing on sight and safer to walk on,” Graham said. “The reason for some of this work is a combination of things. Where the arena was built, there is the water infiltration that comes through the bleachers on the hillside. We’d have the drainage issues on the times we do get rain. There was a settlement issue, I think, underneath the stairwells caused by erosion. “In addition to that, we’re starting to address how we put an all-season parking surface on the parking lot.” The city has also removed the top cinderblock ticket booth and is installing water lines so it can update the water in the pens and behind the chutes. “It’s important to know the convention and tourism are the ones who are spending the money on this, which is generated from hotel/motel tax, and that money is generated from events like the rodeo, the bike rally, etc,” Graham said. “That money is allocated for the convention and tourism dollars, and their specific goal is to attract people to the city of Guymon and the surrounding area.” Guymon is the hub of the Oklahoma Panhandle, and having a top-flight place to play like Henry C. Hitch Pioneer Arena is an important piece of that pie. “What we have is pride in having a facility that is better than everybody else’s,” Johnson said. “It’s unique in the way it sits down in a bowl and unique in its size. It’s unique in the concrete and how much concrete is there.” Another advantage to the facility is that it’s used by Oklahoma Panhandle State University, which has one of the top programs in college rodeo. “That college tie to being a great rodeo school is why we have cowboys who became part of the rodeo committee,” Johnson said. “That helped us become a great rodeo and a great rodeo town.”

The theme for “The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business” might be more than giving teams a second chance. It might be about extending one leg of the race directly into another and bringing fans along for the ride. For the second time in the four episodes, the CBS-TV reality series is “To Be Continued,” and there was no rest for the nine remaining teams in the race for $1 million because the “pit stop” was more of a yield sign. “You are still racing,” host Phil Keoghan told the teams, which began the fifth leg of the race before the fourth episode came to a close. Cowboy brothers Jet and Cord McCoy began the Sunday night show in sixth place as the teams left Japan for China and raced to second place Sunday night. Most of the teams had about 12 hours to get to the Tokyo airport for their mandatory flight to Kunming, China, where they would book their own travel to the city of Li Jiang. Once there, they boarded a bus that took the teams to Jade Dragon Mountain. “There is a yak with a saddle on it,” Jet said. “That is awesome.” Each team had to saddle the longhaired bovine, then ride it over a precarious area of the river. “We weren’t yaking around,” said Cord, who then hat-whipped the animal as he crossed the waterway. Once that challenge was complete, the teams took a gondola ride to a spot three miles above sea level, where they faced a “road block” at Spruce Meadow. There one team member searched among tens of thousands of hanging charms to find the 12 animals used in the Chinese zodiac. Cord handled the duties for the cowboys and had to put the charms in the correct order. As he tried to find the rooster, he asked for help from locals by clucking like a chicken. The next clue directed teams to get on a marked bus that would take them to Old Town Li Jiang, where they found a monument with signs of the Chinese zodiac. Teams had to write a wish on a piece of paper, then slip the paper in the slot near the zodiac sign that correlates with their birth years. “Cord wished for world happiness,” Jet said. That’s where they learned of the detour, where teams could either hammer pulverize hot, molten candy or make their way to a certain part of Li Jiang carrying a horn and leading a long processional. The cowboys hammered the candy, then learned they needed to make their way to the Eternal Tower on the top of Lion Hill for the fourth leg’s “pit stop.” Mother-son team of Margie and Luke Adams won the leg. Best friends Zev Glassenberg and Justin Kanew and Goth couple Kent Kaliber and Vyxsin Fiala were still running the fourth leg of the race when the hour-long program was continued. The friends struggled getting the charms together in order, while Kaliber and Fiala got lost in Japan early in the show and didn’t make it to the Tokyo airport in time to make the mandatory flight. Fans of the reality series will have to wait until next week to see which team comes in last and whether that team is eliminated from the competition. The same scenario happened on the Feb. 20 season premiere, with the McCoys finishing well behind the field. But it was a non-elimination leg of the race, which kept the cowboys in the running.

Tana Renick is exploding onto the rodeo scene, and she made even more noise Thursday-Saturday during Super Series IV at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The Kingstown, Okla., barrel racer won the first go-round of the series Thursday night, then added a second-place finish during Saturday’s third round. It all added up to the three-run average championship and $7,000 in earnings. That propelled her to the semifinals at RodeoHouston, which take place Wednesday and Thursday. The other three cowgirls from the series that qualified were Anessa Self, Angie Meadors and Lisa Lockhart, all of whom have competed at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Renick hasn’t played on ProRodeo’s grandest stage just yet, but she’s doing the things it’s going to take to make that important trip to Las Vegas. She won the Prairie Circuit championship last year and finished 26th in the final Women’s Professional Rodeo Association’s NFR standings. Other event winners in Super Series IV are: Tie-down roping: Houston Hutto, $6,667 Bareback riding: Clint Cannon, $8,000 Team roping: Aaron Tsinigine/Gabe Gwaltney, $5,000 each Saddle bronc riding: Cody DeMoss, $7,000 Steer wrestling: Lee Graves, $6,500 Bull riding: Bobby Welsh, $9,000

Rodeo has been part of Matt Sherwood’s life for most of his life. “Rodeo, as great as it is, can be a detriment,” said Sherwood, a two-time world champion team roper from Pima, Ariz. “I was 26 or 27 years old, working and going to school in Florida, and my wife was pregnant with our third child. I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing?’ “When we moved back to Arizona, I rodeoed a little bit. I bought my first home, my first property. I thought it was time to address myself.” He realized he needed more stability, so he set out to take car of his family. He began laying tile and carpet for his father-in-law. In fact, rodeo almost became an afterthought. “I quit completely for 10 years until I was able to work myself into a situation that worked best for me,” Sherwood said. “It’s so expensive to rodeo, so expensive to make a living. I figure it costs you $50,000 at the beginning of the year, not including buying the horse and buying the truck. That’s a tough thing to swallow if you think you’re going to make a bunch of money rodeoing.” How did Sherwood get to that level? Primarily working for his wife’s father, but when the opportunities allowed, he branched out on his own. That’s how he opened of Sherwood Flooring. “I worked for my father-in-law exclusively until five years ago,” he said. “As I learned things, the construction business was going crazy in the Phoenix area. I started doing other things, all the while still working for my father-in-law. I slowly started taking more jobs on my own.” It’s been five years since Sherwood quit being a regional cowboy and started taking his shot at the big time. In 2006, with the help of his sorrel mount, Nicks Rocket Rojo, Sherwood earned his first qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. After 10 rugged nights of competition, he rode out on the horse he calls Nickolas wearing the gold buckle given to the world champion. He repeated that tremendous feat two years later. But none of it would be possible if he hadn’t done what he needed in order to take care of his family, which includes wife, Kim, and their seven children ages 7-17. Priorities are important to Sherwood, who takes time off the rodeo train in order to be with his family, even during the busiest times of the season. “Yes, there’s stuff you miss,” he said. “But I try to be home as much as I can.” Spoken like a true champion, in and out of the arena.

Clint Cannon won the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s bareback riding championship just two years ago. It helped him to the best regular season of any contestant, and he set a PRCA record for most regular-season money won in any event with $233,504. He knows the importance of that RodeoHouston title. Through Super Series IV’s two go-rounds, the Waller, Texas, cowboy has already secured his spot in next week’s semifinals, winning the opening go-round Thursday night, then splitting the second-round victory on Friday. In two days, he’s pocketed $3,500, but he’s just $1,250 ahead of the No. 2 man, Dusty LaValley, with whom Cannon shared Friday’s victory. Bull riders Allen Helmuth and Bobby Welsh traded places. After Helmuth won Thursday, followed by Welsh, who won Friday. Both cowboys have earned $3,000. Other leaders heading into Saturday’s final round of the series are barrel racer Angie Meadors, $2,500; tie-down roper Houston Hutto, $2,500; saddle bronc rider Rusty Allen, $2,500; team ropers Austin Adams/Steve Purcella and Brandon/Mike Beers, $2,000 each man; and steer wrestlers Lee Graves, Hunter Cure and Jack Vander Lans, $2,000 each. There is still a lot of room available for someone to sneak up the standings and into a spot in the next round.

Lee Graves is an  exceptional athlete, and he’s got the gold buckles to prove it. The Canadian steer wrestler took the early lead during the first go-round of the BP Super Series IV at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on Thursday night with a 4.5-second run. He pocketed $2,000. More importantly, he’s got more than a two-second lead on the No. 2 cowboy, Hunter Cure, who posted a 6.6. A lot of things can happen over the next two nights of this series, where the top four money-earners in each event advance to the semifinals. Of course, the most coincidental victor Thursday might’ve happened in tie-down roping, where Houston Hutto took the lead at RodeoHouston. Hutto’s 10.5-second run was a 10th of a second faster than Josh Peek, who finished second. Other first-round winners were bareback rider Clint Cannon, team ropers Steve Purcella and Austin Adams, saddle bronc rider Cody DeMoss, bull rider Allen Helmuth and barrel racer Tana Renick. There are just five more performances in the Super Series, then RodeoHouston will feature two nights of semifinals, a night of a wild card event featuring those that didn’t advance out of the semifinals, then a night for the Super Series championship. The Cinch RodeoHouston Super Shootout: North America’s Champions will take place Sunday, March 20 and will feature the champions from the top 10 rodeos based on prize money. There will be much more about that specialty event, so keep checking back.

When Sherry Cervi looks around, there are plenty of reminders of an already great rodeo career. From gold buckles to photographs of her great horses to the memories of racing to the average championship at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Cervi certainly has the pedigree. She will carry that hefty experience with her when she competes at the 25th anniversary of the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, set for March 31-April 3 at Jim Norick Arena at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds in Oklahoma City. “It’s always been a really good rodeo and one that you want to qualify for,” said Cervi of Marana, Ariz., a three-time and reigning Women’s Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing champion who has claimed the DNCFR title in her storied career. “It’s a really good bonus program.” The DNCFR pits the top cowboys and cowgirls from the 12 regional ProRodeo circuits against one another for the prestigious national title. Contestants will compete in the seven traditional rodeo sports. “What I think is neat about it is the team deal, where you were trying to get the team title,” Cervi said. That involves a lot of team pride, but the team concept is built through the rigors of the rodeo circuit. Contestants build camaraderie at all the rodeos in which they compete in order to win the circuit crowns. “It made it to where you stayed and watched the other events, which made it fun for us,” Cervi said.

Cord McCoy didn’t have a great ride Wednesday night during the third go-round of Super Series III at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. But he made the whistle. The score, a 70.5, reflected the “trashy” dance between McCoy and his bull, Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Vitalix Tiny Dancer. There was no confetti. There wasn’t even a standing ovation. Those things don’t happen when a bull ride totals 70.5. But it was a timely ride for McCoy, who watched the other seven bull riders fail to make the qualifying eight-second ride. That meant the $2,000 McCoy earned for winning the go-round moved him to third place in money earned and catapulted the Tupelo, Okla., cowboy into the next level of the bracketed format. Clayton Savage won the series with $7,000, followed by Howdy Cloud’s $5,250. Chance Roberts also advanced. While McCoy cashed in for the first time in his three rounds at Super Series III, tie-down roper Tyson Durfey placed for the third straight night. His 8.6-second run secured his first round victory and helped him earn the three-head average. All told, Durfey has collected $8,000 so far.  Others to advance were Cory Solomon, J.D. Kibbe and Shank Edwards. The top four in the other events were: Bareback riding: 1. Jessy Davis, 2. Luke Creasy, 3. Jared Smith and 4. Steven Peebles. Team roping: 1. Justin Yost/Kyle Crick, 2. Turtle Powell/Jhett Johnson, 3. Riley and Brady Minor and 4. Travis Tryan and Rich Skelton. Saddle bronc riding: 1. J.J. Elshere, 2. Curtis Garton, 3. Ryan Mackenzie and 4. Tyrell Smith. Steer wrestling: 1. Stockton Graves, 2. Wade Sumpter, 3. Kenneth Lewis and 4. Curtis Cassidy. Barrel racing: 1. Brenda Mays, 2. Jeanne Anderson, 3. Benette Barrington and 4. Lindsay Sears.