Green looks to repeats as bareback rider champion

Returning champion bareback rider Jared Green isn't about to give up his title without a fight.

The 25-year old from Socoro, N.M., took the lead with an 82 in the afternoon performance of the 67th Annual Yuma Jaycees Silver Spur Rodeo on Saturday.

Green's score was a point better than the 81 Shon Gibson (Taylor, Ariz.) put up to start off the day's performance.

“I felt a little more in control. It got a little loose, but I was able to hold on,” said Green, whose two-ride score of 154 last year was 15 points higher than second place.

But Green's been around long enough to know not to worry too much if his score will stay good enough to win.

“If you chew your fingernails off hoping it holds up, you're not going to win it. You have to know if you win it, great. If not, you did your job,” Green said.

In bull riding, 27-year old Chris Riggs (Flagstaff, Ariz.) had the highest score in the matinee performance, recording an 80 — which is good for third place behind Johnny Allen (88) and Corey Rickard (84).

“The bull was bulling up, jumping and kicking,” Riggs said. “It felt good. I got my job done.”

Saddle bronc rider Cooper DeWitt (Rio Rico, Ariz.) recorded the highest score of the afternoon with a 73 — 11 points higher than Friday's high scorer Cody Hendren.

“I'm satisfied with my ride for the most part. I finished strong, but I needed to start harder,” DeWitt said.

However, in the Saturday night performance, Olan Borg picked up a 74 to take a one-point lead over DeWitt.

While barrel racer Kayla Santos (Nipomo, Calif.) couldn't beat Lindsey Hampton's previous top time of 17:72, she was the fastest rider of the afternoon at 17.83.

“After the second barrel, I knew we had a good shot. He was running really, really well,” said Santos, who is sitting in a tie for eighth place entering the final performance today.

In the night performance, Sarah Kieckhefer's 17:63 was just fast enough to get ahead of the 17:64 put up by Cindy Woods.

Steer wrestler Rhett Kennedy (Chowchilla, Calif.) had the best time of the afternoon with a 4.4 and may have been helped by the bearing sun.

“A lot of times during day rodeos, it's hotter, so the steers don't want to run so fast,” Kennedy said.

While Riley York (Loyalton, Calif.) had the second best time of the afternoon (4.5), he's currently tied on top of the leaderboard — both York and Sean Santucci have an aggregate score of 11.2.

Anthony Estep (Wilton, Calif.) had the best time of the afternoon in tie-down roping, finishing in 7.9 seconds, but Weston Crane leads with an aggregate time of 21.1. Team ropers Ross Gosney and Kyon Sayer and Cody Mirabal and JoDan Mirabal each posted a 6.3, which is good enough for second place behind Tyler Shannon and Todd Cleveland's time of 5.8. Shannon and Cleveland are currently in first with an aggregate time of 12.1.

The final performance of the Silver Spur Rodeo will be tonight at 6 p.m. at the Yuma County Fairgrounds with new riders hoping to put up impressive numbers while the current leaders hold on to their scores for dear life.

Jesse Severson can be reached at jseverson@yumsun.com or at 539-6881. Find him at facebook.com/YSJesseSeverson