ProRodeo Sports News May 3, 2019

Tie-down roper keeps his momentum going Cooke Time

BY TRACY RENCK S eth Cooke isn’t a household name in the PRCA’s tie-down roping circle. The Millsap, Texas, cowboy is trying to change that in his third year on his PRCA card. Cooke took a solid step in that direction by winning his first Rodeo Corpus Christi crown with a 28.4-second time on three head. “This was the third time I had been to Corpus Christi, and I never had any luck before this year,” said Cooke, 24. “I drew really good calves and my horse was awesome. The calves were stronger there and had not been tied much. I drew on the better end of them, and I used them.” Cooke was riding Nova, 9. He just missed matching the three-head rodeo average record of 28.3 seconds set by Timber Moore in 2017. Although Cooke’s family had zero rodeo ties, it didn’t stop him from wanting to be a PRCA cowboy. “My dad (Joe) was in the racehorse business, and he got out of that when I was little,” Cooke said. “We had a bunch of horses sitting around, and I wanted to get involved with rodeo. I jumped in head first. I steer wrestled in high school and college and had some luck, but I always have loved tie-down roping best.” Cooke attendedWeatherford (Texas) College, qualifying for the College National Finals Rodeo once. Cooke bought his PRCA card in October 2016 and had his best season a year ago, earning $34,717 to finish 47th in the PRCA | RAMWorld Standings. With his $5,638 win in Corpus, Cooke moved up to 38th in the April 29 world standings with $14,125. “The biggest challenge for me is getting big wins,” Cooke said. “Last year my placing percentage was decent, and I won a lot of little checks, not many like Corpus Christi. A few months ago, I reconstructed a lot of my thinking. I started trying to have everything I do day to day geared toward goals. That way of thinking has helped me in rodeo, especially the last couple of months. My goal for me is to make the NFR.”

ALL-AROUND COWBOY Landon McClaugherty, $4,844, tie-down roping, team TOP SCORES

McClaugherty

roping and steer roping BAREBACK RIDING

1. Tanner Aus .............................. 90 pts. 2. Seth Hardwick ............................ 89.5 3. R.C. Landingham ........................... 87 STEER WRESTLING 1. Laine Herl .............. 12.2 sec. on three 2. Denver Berry ............................... 12.9 3. Cody Devers ............................... 13.3 TEAM ROPING 1. T. Tomlinson/T. Arnold .. 14.1 sec. on 3 2. (tie) C. Lovell/P. Eaves ................ 14.9 3. E. Rogers/P. Bray ........................ 14.9 SADDLE BRONC RIDING 1. Zeke Thurston ...................... 87.5 pts. 2. Spencer Wright .............................. 87 3. Jake Watson .................................. 86 TIE-DOWN ROPING 1. Seth Cooke ............ 28.4 sec. on three 2. Kyle Lucas .................................. 31.9 3. Two tied at .................................. 33.5 STEER ROPING 1. Landon McClaugherty ... 63.9 sec. on 4 2. Walter Priestly ............................ 66.5 3. Kim Ziegelgruber ........................ 70.1 BULL RIDING 1. (tie) J.W. Harris .................... 90.5 pts. Garrett Tribble ............................. 90.5 3. Tyler Bingham ................................ 88

Dudley Barker photo

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Complete results/Page 49

ProRodeo Sports News 5/3/2019

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