However, it can boast two of the top high school saddle bronc riders in the nation, a fact further emphasized during Thursday morning's eighth performance of the National High School Finals Rodeo at McGee Park.
With his brother, Jesse Wright, holding the lead in the average after a pair of successful runs Wednesday, Spencer Wright wanted to show that just because he's two years younger, that doesn't mean he's not at the same level. He made his point with a 72-point ride Thursday morning that electrified the always-vocal contingent of Utah fans, and moved him into second place in the average.
"It's a big burden off my shoulders," said the younger Wright, who took advantage of a re-ride opportunity to get his big score. "I had my mind set on winning. The first horse was kind of wild, but the second one was nice because it bucked straight."
Utah's version of the Wright brothers has wasted
"It's mostly our dad," Spencer said. "A lot of the kids from Utah are good riders, and we're influenced to do it. We're real competitive, so you've got to be strong."
The action was slowed several times because of injured competitors, two of whom were taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center by ambulance. Minnesota pole bender Presley Hamann fell from her horse during her run, a situation made worse when the horse stepped on her back and caused a tingling sensation in one of her legs. About half an hour later, saddle bronc rider Jared Bagnaud from Louisiana took a hard shot from his mount, leaving him with what initially was diagnosed as bruising around the kidneys. Both athletes were expected to be OK despite their falls.
Oklahoma's Cassidy Boggs edged Florida's Sage Adams by 47 one-thousandths of a second to win the breakaway roping title, while Wyoming's Megan Belus joined New Mexico's Jessie Suazo and Kansas' Emily Miller as the only athletes to record a time under 20 seconds in pole bending. Ashley Rolland of Texas held off a field that included Washington's Raley Radomske and Bloomfield native Samantha Martinez for the girls cutting win.
Kortney Cleveland of California and Louisiana's Victoria Guinn collected wins in barrel racing and goat tying, respectively. Carla Olstad of Alberta, Canada, who finished ninth in the goat tying performance, was among those who greatly helped their chances of advancing to Saturday's championship round, recording a time of 10.298 seconds to move into sixth place in the average.
"I'm sure there's going to be a couple more fast times, and that will maybe bump me down a little bit," Olstad said. "But, I'm thinking I'm going to make it to the short go."
Braxton Laughlin of Louisiana won the tie down roping competition with a time of 9.227 seconds, while Kansas' Cody Frampton claimed victory in steer wrestling and Daniel and Larry Ferreira of California took the win in team roping. Texas' Cody Joe Ziober (bareback) and Virginia's Winston Quesenberry (bull riding) took the rough stock events, and Bryce Baxter of Nebraska edged Keith Teal of Texas by half a point to win the cutting performance.
Darren Vaughan: dvaughan@daily-times.com
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