RENO - Jason Havens was well acquainted with Flying Five's Miss Amerititle, and that knowledge paid handsome dividends.
Havens recorded an 85 to take high score of the night in bareback competition at the 88th annual Reno Rodeo Sunday night at the Reno Livestock Events Center.
The 85 is the highest first-ride score in the event, three points ahead of Caleb Bennett's 82. The co-leaders after two rides are Heath Ford and Kelly Timberman, both at 166.
Eleven of the 12 riders in Sunday's group scored 74 or better. Havens beat out Jason Jeter and Cleve Schmidt, both of whom turned in 83s.
Justin McDaniel and Jared Schlegal both recorded 80s.
"I've been on her a couple of times," Havens said. "I felt like I made a pretty good ride. I may have scored a point or two higher on my other rides. When you get her, you figure to be in the mid-80s.
"She bucks good and gets high in the air. She bucks hard every jump. It allows a guy to make a real good ride."
Jeter's first horse, a colt from the Big Bend stock, literally fell over. Jeter got up uninjured, and gladly accepted a re-ride.
"it just fell down," Jeter said. "The colt didn't know what he was doing. Having extra weight on its back (Jeter only weighs 150). It worked out for the best."
Jeter scored the 83 on the second mount.
"If I hadn't gotten that re-ride, I would have been out of the rodeo," Jeter said. "I might have gotten some money in the next round, but I would have been out in terms of getting to Saturday because of the average.
"I had been on that (second) horse a few times. I saw Jason (Havens) win in San Francisco a few months ago on that horse."
The saddle bronc scores were low. Brad Rudolf recorded an 81, and he was the only rider to get over 80. Carlin cowboy Ira Slagowski posted a 78 as did Matt Hebbert. Billy Etbauer, the five-time world champion, scored a 76 aboard Major Disaster.
Jess Martin (164), Cody Wright (162) and Morgan Forbes (161) occupy the top three spots for riders with two rides under their belts.
Once again, the bulls dominated. Only two cowboys - Sean Case (85 aboard Rosser's Flying U Carisa Plains) and Dustin Larsen (78 aboard Flying Five's Spotted Fever) - completed rides.
Only six riders have completed their rides thus far, and no cowboys except Case and Larsen lasted more than 5.22 seconds.
Case certainly will have something to talk about when he returns to work in the morning. He works as a loan officer for Bank of America in Brea, Calif., and he left right after last night's performance to get back to Southern California so he could be back at work by 9 a.m.
"I don't make enough to do this full time," Case said. "I primarily stay local. I do bigger shows at the beginning of the year.
"Flying U has done a lot of the shows (I've been in). I knew I had a good bull and that it would be in the mid-80s. I don't think I've seen him out before. I was excited to get on him."
Case's approach to the sport is a bit different from his fellow riders.
"I had no idea what he was going to do," Case said. "A lot of guys like to find out what a bull likes to do. It's an animal. It could do anything at any given time. I like to go out and ride jump-for-jump and turn-for-turn."
Case's ride should make it to next Saturday's championship round. He trails Joe Meling, who had an 88. Jake Wade was second with an 86.
Billy Bugenig topped the steer wrestlers with a 4.7, a scant .2 ahead of Anthony Norwood's 4.9. Lyle Branquinho was timed in 5.4, Brad McGilchrist 5.6 and Nick Stubblefield 6.3.
Les Shepperson is the overall leader with 11.2 and McGilchrist is second at 11.8. Bugenig currently sits third at 12.3 and Norwood is a distant fourth at 20.1.
Ken Daniel and Jhett Johnson were the nightly winners in team roping with an impressive 5.2. Defending world champ Trevor Brazile and Patrick Smith, who was a Feist Invitational champ in 2005, logged a 5.4. Clay Tyran and Walt Woodard are third with 5.8. Enrique Salas and Adrian Salas clocked a 7.0.
In tie-down roping, Scott Kormos remains the leader at 9.3, while Joseph Parsons is next at 9.5. Mike Arnold is third at 10.8 and Cimarron Boardman currently is fourth at 11.0. Brazile turned in a 13.3.
Brandie Halls turned in the quickest time in barrel racing with a 17.04 run. Sherrylynn Johnson had the next-fastest time at 17.12 and Jill Moody was next at 17.14.
Moody is the current leader with a time of 34.17 after two rides.
Maegan Reichert is next at 34.31 followed by Halls at 34.47. Linz Sears is fourth at 34.52 and Codi Baucom is fifth at 34.75.