ProRodeo Sports News - October 16, 2020

PRORODEO SEASON

Handful of cowboys log best rides of 2019, 2020 seasons Repeat Leaders PRCA ProRodeo photo by Clay Guardipee Bareback rider Orin Larsen posted one of the highest scores of the 2019 regular season, 93 points, and again in the 2020 season with two 92.5-point rides. Both seasons ended with the Canadian cowboy heading to the NFR. Pictured above is Larsen taking Stace Smith’s Junior Bonner for an 89-point ride at the 2019 NFR.

BY MATT NABER B eating the odds is part of the ProRodeo game, and based off the season leaderboards in 2019 and 2020, bareback rider Orin Larsen and team ropers Kasper Roy, Jake Long and Brye Crites are clearly winning as the four cowboys made back-to-back appearances near the top of the charts for their events. With nearly 7,000 ProRodeo athletes competing across several hundred rodeos each year, the total number of rides and runs in a season is astronomical. Doubling those numbers cuts the odds of coming out on top in half, but these guys did it with a mix of skill and luck. Larsen tied for the second-highest score of the 2019 season at 93 points. A season later, and he nearly matched it twice when he made the third-highest score of the season at 92.5 points. “It was a pretty electric feeling to see you are 93 points,” Larsen said. “That’s the highest score I’ve ever had.”

It’s also only one point off the ProRodeo bareback riding record. Larsen picked up $7,545 for his 93-point ride on C5 Rodeo’s

Make Up Face at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede. One year later, he was 92.5 points on Pickett Rodeo’s Uncapped at the Dodge City (Kan.) Roundup Rodeo. He capped off the 2020 season with a 92.5-point ride on Brookman Rodeo’s Famous Dex at the Yellowstone Riggin Rally in Darby, Mont. “I’ve been on those three horses multiple times,” Larsen said. “I definitely knew I had a shot to win with what the scores had been, but it was up to the judges, and I was there to make a good buckout.” Aside from a boost of confidence, making a high score doesn’t impact Larsen’s approach to competing. “I self-critique, no matter if I’m 82 or 92 points, I look for something to fix or improve on,” Larsen said. “Even if you’re 100 points, I truly believe there’s something you can improve on, and the day you quit doing that is the day you should probably retire.”

ProRodeo Sports News 10/16/2020

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