It was a chilly homecoming for Bailey Tuck Friday night in Santa Maria.

The local cowgirl was wrapped in a heavy, quilted blanket as she waited for her turn in the arena.

“I'm just trying to stay warm before I ride,” said Tuck, a 2004 Santa Maria Elks Queen candidate who represented YOYO - Your Orcutt Youth Organization - and a 2005 graduate of Righetti High School.

This year, Tuck is one of the entrants at the 65th annual Santa Maria Elks Rodeo - competing in the Women's Professional Rodeo Association's (WPRA) Barrel Racing.

“I'm a rookie out here, competing in the WPRA California Circuit, so I'm learning the ropes. I'm just out here to learn and gain some experience so I'm not such a little fish in a big pond.”

But before tackling the world of professional rodeo full time, Tuck plans to finish college.

Just like her racing in the arena, Tuck's college career is finishing fast.

Advertisement

“I'm a third-year at Cal Poly majoring in Ag Business,” said Tuck. “So this is my senior year.”

Friday night was the kickoff of the annual Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) three-day rodeo.

Following hot on the heels of Thursday night Professional Bull Riding (PBR) show, the near-sellout crowd warmed up to the music of country singer Mark Chestnut before the evening's rodeo performance began.

The show got underway with a crowd pleasing performance in the Wild Horse Race.

In this event, eight three-man teams have to catch a wild horse, get him saddled and ride the horse across the finish line.

Easier said than done.

The first horse across the finish line had no saddle. He did have a cowboy hanging on - hanging on to the rope as he was dragged clear across the arena through the dirt.

That cowboy wasn't the only one to suffer that same indignity. One other cowboy saw the ground close-up as he was dragged through the dirt.

In-all, five horses never did get saddled. Of the three who were saddled and ridden, two kept the cowboys at bay until just before the three-minute time limit expired.

At the other end of the spectrum was the Wade Agin team. The Santa Ynez cowboy and crew made quick work of their horse to easily win the event. They were followed, but at a great distance, by the Keith Teeter and Jimmy Miles teams.

The opening PRCA event was Bareback Riding.

Bareback Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding and Bull Riding are the roughstock events. The cowboys have just one shot at victory. Thursday night's best riders will have to wait until the final ride Sunday afternoon to see if their opening night scores hold up.

Kaycee Field was the first rider out.

The 21-year old son of five-time World All-Around champion Lewis Field, Kaycee Field set the bar early at 81 points.

With six of the seven riders having successful eight-second rides, Field is the leader after the first night of competition.

“Being the first guy out puts extra pressure on you,” said Field. “But it also motivates you more - it kind of helps you out in that way.”

Also waiting to see if their scores make it through the weekend are Evan Jayne (77), Bryan Jones and Jessy Davis (70), Tyrel Jones (68) and Steven Anding (67).

“”Most of the time, your horse starts out strong then weakens,” said Field. “This horse started strong and stayed strong. It felt good but you can't get to thinking this is easy, you can't let it go to your head. As soon as you start thinking that, the shore will buck you off. But I like my score - 81 points might hold up for the win. It should at least get me in the money.”

Next out of the chutes were the Santa Maria Elks Team Ropers.

The night's top riders were (with header listed first) Bill Wineman and Derrick Hee.

Frank Tiboni and Billy Colli had the night's second fastest Elks Team time of 16.2 seconds.

In the PRCA Team Roping, Arroyo Grande's Cody Mora and Nipomo's Josh Wineman posted the night's fastest time at 4.5 seconds.

“It feels good to get a fast time in front of your hometown fans. This is always a good rodeo to win,” said Mora, who trains horses in Arroyo Grande and also competes on the California Rodeo Circuit with Wineman.

“We practice five days a week,” said Mora. “Then on the weekends we go out and rodeo. We've been doing well riding on the California Circuit. I'm riding my girlfriend's horse. Her name is Foxy - the horse, not my girlfriend. Foxy is a former barrel racer that we've turned into a header horse and ever since we started working together we've been winning.”

The overall leaders in PRCA Team roping are Paul Mullins and Tarek Goddard with a two-go total of 11.9 seconds. Daniel Green and Todd Hampton currently hold the second spot with a two-go total of 12.2 seconds.

Cody Wright is the early leader in Saddle Bronc Riding. His 82-point ride has him sitting tallest in the saddle awaiting the weekend's results.

Wright is followed by Rusty Allen (76) and Roy Johnson (67).

Steer Wrestling also began it's second go-round during Friday night's performance.

All of the timed events - Team Roping, Tie Down Roping, Steer Wrestling and Barrel Racing - had their first go-rounds Friday morning at the Unocal Events Center.

B.J. Campbell posted the best time of the night with a 5.6-second run. He was followed by Russ Weitl (8.8 seconds) and Matt Desowick (14.4).

The first-go leaders from the morning competition are Blake Knowles (5.4), Brad McGilchrist (5.6) and Stan Branco (6.1).

Gerald Hofstead had the night's fastest time in Tie Down Roping. His 9.5-second run put him ahead of Joseph Parson (10.2), Jason Wohs (11.2) and Grant Herdes (12.) in the second go.

Matt Shiozawa (9.1) Los Alamos' Casey Branquinho (9.2) and Blaine Ketscher (9.3) had the fastest times in the first go Friday morning.

In the WPRA Barrel Race, Becca Kucera had the night's best time. Kucera ran the three-barrel course in 18.18 seconds. She's followed by Cathy Cooper (18.24), Cathy's daughter Roxanne Cooper (18.46) and Nipomo cowgirl Kaila Barlogio (18.41).

Tuck knocked down a barrel which cost her a five-second penalty. She finished at 23.40 seconds.

The Bulls, as always, closed out the night. And, as always, the bulls got the better of it but on this night, the bull riders put up a pretty good score.

It was Bulls 10, Cowboys 7.

And, of the seven cowboys who rode for the full eight seconds, Cory Melton is the early leader after an 87-point ride. He's followed by Jeremy Kovich 83), Brady Scott Williams (82) and Cal Poly graduate Ted Beet (78).

The action continues at the Santa Maria Elks Unocal Events Center at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

Sports Editor Elliott Stern can be reached at 739-2235 or by e-mail to elliottstern@santamariatimes.com.

May 31, 2008