It’s been said that a man owns up to his mistakes. Reflecting upon his 2019 National High School Finals Rodeo experience, Bodie Hine certainly did so. And without hesitation.
“I messed up in the short round,” said the Ignacio heeler, who paired with Stanfield, Arizona’s Clay Cherry for the team roping competition up in Rock Springs, Wyoming, which was held July 14-20.
“We didn’t draw very good steers in the first two rounds, so we kind of came in behind (in the standings). But I roped the leg on one, made us a little longer.
“We were going fast, probably wanted to do that (in 4.8 seconds), and I just plumb missed it.”
And though able to make a rapid re-rope and complete the task, the duo was unable to remain in top-five contention during the short, or championship, go-round. Clocking 16.08 seconds for their final attempt inside the Sweetwater Events Complex, the duo ended up in 10th place.
“I had to rebuild, get another loop, kept us in the top 10, but we should have been fifth,” Hine said.
Things certainly began well enough, as Hine and Cherry registered 9.29 seconds on their first try, made during the opening performance of the “World’s Largest Rodeo.” Not the fastest time they’d ever managed, but good enough for a fourth-place finish in the performance and eventually 25th out of 68 successful pairs in the first go.
After waiting until the final day of the competition to ride again, in the 12th performance, the tandem slowed in, well, tandem with their target to the tune of 12.83 seconds. The effort survived to rank fifth out of eight in the session and would hold up for 33rd out of 54 in the second go. Again, not their finest work but just enough to earn them at least a shot at the title.
Mississippians Kason Davis and Bryce Graves went on to clinch victory with a short go 6.82, besting the 7.02 posted by the Big Piney, Wyoming, pair of Arye Espenscheid and Kolby Bradley, and also finished first in the average by totaling 19.35 seconds on three consistent attempts.
Espenscheid and Bradley finished in 20.24, while Kansans Trey Adams and Camden Hoelting ended up a third-place 22.43.
Hine and Cherry, meanwhile, still ended up a respectable 10th out of 92 overall with a total time of 38.20 seconds, well ahead of 11th-place Enterprise, Utah’s Blake and T.J. Bowler in 41.23.
“There’s five brains out there,” Hine said, no doubt referring to himself, his partner and the trio of halted head. “And they’ve all got to work together, so, not making excuses or nothing.
“Other than that, it was a good time. There were so many vendors, my sponsors were up there, all that kind of stuff. I even got an offer on one of the horses I ride from a world-champ heeler in the PRCA, so that was pretty cool. And I got to rope with (professionals) Clint Summers and Trey Johnson, all them, so that was fun.”
Ignacio bullrider Dustin Sanchez was unable to log at least one scoring ride in two guaranteed NHSFR tries, as 62 others managed to achieve.
Lufkin, Texas’ Bryne Wilson covered all three of his bulls and racked up 211 points to win the average. Kelleigh Purdy of Zillah, Washington, was runner-up with 204/3 figures, and Toston, Montana’s aptly-named Spur Owens came in third with 198/3.
The 2020 NHSFR will be held July 19-25 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
