CHEYENNE, Wyo. (July 26, 2019) – A barrel racer named Cheyenne on a horse they call Lex had the crowd on the edge of their seats at the seventh performance of the “Daddy of ‘em All,” Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Cheyenne Wimberley from Stephenville, Texas, now lays claim to the fastest time during the 123rd western celebration. She and Lex stopped the clock in 17.21 seconds on Friday afternoon, surpassing the 17.28-second run from 2017 world champion Nellie Miller earlier this week.
In the tournament style format at Frontier Park, contestants get a fresh start with each progression, so none of the times or scores carry forward. Miller, from Cottonwood, California was also in Friday’s semifinals, finishing in 17.43 seconds. Six barrel racers advanced from Friday’s performance to Sunday’s Championship Finals. Wimberley and Miller are among those.
The bareback riding, bull riding and saddle bronc riding also have similar formats with contestants going from the quarterfinals into Friday and Saturday afternoon’s semifinals. Miller, who was last year’s barrel racing champion here, will be joined in the race for a repeat victory by last year’s champions in all these events.
Brody Cress, from Hillsdale, Wyoming was definitely a crowd favorite on Friday. Cress has won the saddle bronc riding here for the past two consecutive years. He won the event on Friday with an 88.5-point ride on Three Hills Rodeo’s Final Feather. He now will be a favorite for the saddle bronc riding title on Sunday, but will need to have the high score again in order to win.
Will Lowe is looking for his fourth title in the bareback riding here. Lowe, from Canyon, Texas, was on another horse from Three Hills, Show Boat. He scored 87.5 for the win on Friday and will ride again on Sunday. Rugar Piva won the bull riding a year ago and is on track to win it again in 2019. He was part of a three-way tie for fourth place in the semifinals with an 83-point ride. With the top six advancing to the finals, Piva is in the hunt again.
Friday’s bull riding was some of the best seen here so far. There were seven contestants that had qualified rides with six scores of 83 or better. The top six advance to Sunday’s championship finals.
A new set of contestants in these events will compete here on Saturday in semifinals 2. In the tie-down, breakaway and team roping as well as steer wrestling, Friday’s contestants will compete again on Saturday. The four contestants in each of those events with the most money will be part of Sunday’s finals.
Saturday’s rodeo will begin at 12:45 p.m. with opening ceremonies including a parade in front of the main grandstand. The competition is slated to start at 1 p.m.
