No Major Shock in Harris' ride

RENO - After being dumped twice late in Xtreme Bulls rides on Thursday

night, you just knew reigning world champion J.W. Harris was due for a big

ride.

And, boy did he deliver.

Harris scored a 91 aboard Major Shock to take the lead in the bull riding

competition at the 90th annual Reno Rodeo before a crowd of 6,296 Friday

night at the Reno Livestock Events Center.

Harris' score was no major shock. Previously, he scored 88.5 and 87 aboard

Major Shock, and he'd been bucked off once.

"There is pressure because you don't want to get bucked off," Harris said.

"To fall off that bull would be awful because that's the kind of bull

everybody wants.

"I love that bull. I wish I could ride him all the time. I'd love to buy

that bull."

No doubt there would be a revolt among the other riders if he draws Major

Shock too many times.

In saddle bronc, the last time five-time world champion Billy Etbauer found

himself on top of Devil Lady was at the National Finals Rodeo, and he was

unceremoniously dumped.

Etbauer got a little revenge last night, scoring an 89 en route to the lead

in the saddle bronc competition. Etbauer is a point ahead of Justin Arnold,

who had a nice 88-point ride on Kool Toddy.

Arnold said winning a round here is huge.

"It's big to win a round here," Arnold said. "It pays pretty good. It heals

you up for a while.

"It's a great mare. Every time he bucked I didn't think I'd be on there the

next one (jump)."

It was feast or famine for the saddle bronc riding contingent. The first

three riders were dumped, and six of the last nine posted scores of 80 or

better. Wes Burns is in third place with an 85, while Levi Berry and Cody

Wright are tied for fourth at 81. Bradley Harter is sixth with an 80.

The bareback competition produced seven clean rides, but no really

impressive scores. The leader is 19-year-old Ethan Spencer McNeill from

Grantsville, Utah, who scored an 82 aboard Spring Fling. He was the only

rider to eclipse the 80-point mark.

"It worked out really good," said McNeill, who was making his Reno Rodeo

debut. "It was fun, exciting. People were telling me that the bull had been

around for a while."

Bobby Mote scored an NFR-record of 91 points last year aboard Spring Fling.

McNeill looks like he should be playing tight end for some college football

team. He said that he played football his freshman year of high school, but

quit because it conflicted with rodeo. He said it wasn't a difficult

decision, either.

Reigning barrel racing champion Lindsay Sears had an unbelievable day in the

arena.

After clocking a 17.07 in her morning slack run, she turned in a 16.96 in

her night performance for a two-ride total of 34.03. She leads Kelli Tolbert

by .72 seconds. Danyelle Campbell is third at 34.93 and Megan McLeod is

fourth at 35.00.

Travis Tryan and Michael Jones continued their impressive roll in team

roping, which started in Oregon. They are at 11.8 after two runs (4.9 and

6.9), giving them an excellent chance to reach next Saturday's finals.

Rhett Kennedy and Jake Hannum clocked runs of 3.8 and 3.9, respectively in

steer wrestling. Joey Bell leads the way with a score of 9.1 on two runs.

Gardnerville's Jim Usher had a 5.6 in a slack round.

Trevor Thiel won the second round of tie-down roping with an 8.6. Jason

Vohs, with his runs of 9.7 and 9.3 today, took a commanding lead of the

average in his event.