Texans sweep opening night of bulls, ropers

By Pete Boele / Independent Sports Editor Friday, May. 02, 2008

The 94th edition of the Clovis Rodeo got off to a rousing start as bull riders and ropers opened the action in front of a boisterous crowd April 24 at the Clovis Rodeo Grounds.

When the dust settled, Clayton Foltyn outperformed 39 other competitors from the Professional Bull Riders' Copenhagen Challenger Tour to ride away with the $12,000 top prize in front of a Clovis Rodeo-record 6,500 spectators for the event.

"I wasn't familiar with him at all," said Foltyn of Slim Slam, his bull for the short go-round. "But I had a bunch of fun on him, and I knew it was going to be good."

Good indeed.

Foltyn rode Slim Slam to a 91, the judge's top score of the night, to wrap up the title and the winner's check with a combined score of 176.5.

"I came back from one of the bottom holes in the short round," said the El Campo, Texas, cowboy, whose 85.5, aboard Rock, in the long go-round left him in the No. 9 spot. The top 10 riders qualified for the short go-round finals. "Luckily, I had a good bull that I could score a bunch of points on, and it turned out great.

"I never really won anything out here and, finally, I hit me a win."

Coalinga's Ben Jones was second with a score of 175 (86.5 and 88.5).

Ned Cross of Midland, Ore., the final rider of the night, had a shot to overtake Foltyn, but was dumped by White River. Cross entered the short go-round after a first-ride best 88.5 aboard Bad Company in round one.

Texan ropes $12,500 prize

In the Match Tie-Down Roping event, eight ropers went head-to-head in a round-by-round, single-elimination, winner-take-all contest as the competitor with the highest time in each round was knocked out.

Stran Smith, of Childress, Texas, saved his best for last, pulling off the quickest ride of the night, tying his calf in 7.1 seconds for the victory and the $12,500 check. Smith's effort came after Clint Cooper, of Decatur, Texas, opened the finals with an 8.5. It was Smith's first victory in six attempts at the Clovis tie-down event.

"It's a great deal," Smith said. "It is just a phenomenal event. You see the excitement build up in a deal like it."

Smith also came from behind in round seven with a 7.8-second run after Cooper posted an 8.0 and Ryan Jarrett, of Summerville, Ga., clocked an 8.4.

"When you go first you know you have to go out and apply the pressure, if you go second you know what you have to do," Smith said. "We've programmed ourselves. We've done this millions of times."

Smith said he was impressed with the way the rodeo has grown over that past decade-plus he's been making the Clovis stop.

"I've been coming to the Clovis Rodeo for about 13 years now, and I've watched them grow," Smith said. "When I first started coming out here, Clovis was just a one-header. It was an average, pretty decent rodeo, and I've just watched how they've been aggressive about adding money and the way they've tried to accommodate the cowboys by having multiple go-rounds for the timed events, and making sure they were a tour rodeo. ... My hat's off to the Clovis committee for all they do."

E-mail Pete Boele at pboele@clovisindependent.com.