SPORTS
Jim Bowie Days rodeo has close competition
The Jim Bowie Days three night rodeo celebration entertained crowds at the Bowie Rodeo grounds last week.
T-N-T Rodeo produced and provided the stock and it was sanctioned by the United Professional Rodeo Association for the seventh straight year.
What makes the rodeo stand out is it is one of the largest in the state that encourages amateur athletes to compete against professionals from the UPRA circuit.
At the end of three nights of competition, results for the top of the leaderboard in each event are in and cash was distributed.
In bareback riding, it was the one event where first place was split by two riders. Zach Hibler and Kash Loyd both scored a ride of 80.
In barrel racing, Rhyan Brough finished at the top of a competitive field as the top seven riders who earned money all timed in under 18 seconds. Her time of 17.451 seconds was only nine thousandths of a second faster than second place.
The breakaway roping event also was close and won by Delani Beatty. Her fastest successful catch was 2.42 seconds, which was only .11 faster than second place. The eight competitors who finished in the money all had catches clocking in under three seconds.
The team roping event was won by the team Jake Cooper and Kyle Crick. Their fastest time was 4.54 seconds. It edged out second place by .27 of a second, but was more than a second ahead of the rest of the field.
Case Stone won the steer wrestling event. His time of 3.8 seconds was three tenths of a second faster than second place as he was the only competitor to finish under four seconds.
The calf roping, or tie-down-roping event also was close. Spence Barney won with a time of 8.5 seconds, which was just a tenth of a second faster than second place and two tenths of a second better than third.
In ranch bronc riding, Aaron Urich won the event with a ride of 76.5 points. In saddle bronc riding, Benny Proffitt won the event, with the only ride above 80 points, scoring 80.5 points on his best ride.
In the final event of the night, bull riding was competitive and went down to the wire. With four riders scoring 80 or more, it was Noah Lee (88) that just finished ahead of second place Vitor Losnake (87.5).
For full results from all events of the competitors who finished in the money as well as more pictures, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Two former Bowie boy’s golf members played in the PGA University Championship on Nov. 12-13. (L-R) Cy Egenbacher and Imanol Walker are both in the Sam Houston University PGA Golf Managerment program. The team finished 16th overall. Egenbacher shot 168 during the two rounds and finished tied for 67th. Walker shot 180 and finished 84th. The tournament is a fun one for univesities that have PGA Golf Management programs, which is for individuals who want to work in the golf industry after graduation.
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers came up short at the regional final for the third straight season, one game away from state, on Saturday at the regional tournament in Midlothian.
The Lady Panthers beat Evant in straight sets 3-0 on Friday to reach the final game against Harrold which they lost 3-0.
Saint Jo knew before the season even started it would likely come to this big challenge, but it still had to go through all the steps to get there.
The Panthers reached the regional finals the previous two seasons, losing both times to eventual state champion Blum.
With district realignment meant a new region so a rematch with a Blum program that had graduated several key players from those teams would have to wait until state possibly.
Instead, a showdown against last year’s state runner-up Harrold was forecast in the regional final.
With the team having six seniors, with five of them having been on varsity since they were freshman, it was this year or bust for Saint Jo.
First, the Lady Panthers had to beat Evant. The Lady Elks leaned heavily on a big front court player. When she rotated to the back row, Evant showed almost no net resistance which meant Saint Jo hitters had free reign during that time.
The Lady Panthers won each set pretty easily, with the scores being 25-17, 25-17 and 25-19.
This set up the match with Harrold the team had been anticipating. The Lady Hornets had been at or near the top of the state standings since the beginning of the season.
Harrold had so much respect it had even played bigger local schools this season, beating Bowie in straight sets and Nocona in five sets during its pre-district schedule.
The two teams had met earlier in the season when the Lady Hornets attended Saint Jo’s hosted tournament. The two teams met in the tournament championship where Harrold won 2-1.
Still, with the tournament format being a best of three instead of five and the match after playing an exhausting schedule of five matches the previous two days, that result was not gospel, especially two months later.
The challenge is Harrold had multiple big hitters at the net, which is a big deal since most 1A teams are lucky to have one or two, which meant constant pressure on Saint Jo’s defense.
This also meant the Lady Panthers constantly had to find ways to attack the Lady Hornet defense as well or it would face strong hit after strong hit which was unsustainable for any team.
The first set saw the Lady Hornets get out to a good start before the Lady Panthers rallied back and took a little lead 8-7. Unfortunately, it started turn from there.
Harrold had some good runs from the service line that Saint Jo struggled to make much offense out of and led to the Lady Hornets pulling away. Harrold won 4-1 to get the lead to 11-9 and then extended it to 14-11, 17-13. Another 4-1 run and the Lady Hornets could smell the end of the first set coming.
The Lady Hornets won 25-17 to take the lead 1-0.
Saint Jo needed to bounce back, but unfortunately never got anything going in set two.
Harrold led 4-1 and then 8-2. The Lady Panthers would have needed a huge run at some point from the service line to get back into the set, but it never came as the Lady Hornets lead grew more and more.
Harrold took set two 25-13 to go up 2-0 and had all of the momentum.
Saint Jo had its back against the wall, knowing the only option was to hope for a comeback that would lead to a fifth set, but to get there it needed to win set three.
The Lady Panthers initially started on the right foot. After falling being 4-1 to start the previous two sets, it was Saint Jo that started well up 4-1. Unfortunately, the Lady Hornets came roaring back, going on an 8-2 run as it led 9-6, then 12-8 and 15-10.
It looked like it was heading towards a similar place as set one with Harrold slowly running away with the set before the Lady Panthers made one last gasp.
Saint Jo eventually cut the lead down to one point, trailing 20-19 as the set entered the final stretch and the Lady Panthers had their best momentum of the match.
Unfortunately, it was Harrold that was able to close the set out with momentum, earning the final five points to win 25-19 and the match 3-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from Friday’s match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870620&T=1
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