After taking a day off, the Days of '47 Rodeo resumed action at a furious pace.
Of the seven events being held, new leaders came to the forefront in three."I'm happy," said Rice Lake, Wis., cowboy Fred Boettcher after he set a new standard in Bull Riding. "Hopefully this will hold up. It's been kind of a bad week for me. I got bucked off in the last rodeo and my wife's grandmother passed away. I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways and this (ride) may be a blessing."
Boettcher posted an impressive 83 while riding X72 that put him firmly in the lead. Tony Mendes entered the day on top at 77 but quickly saw Twin Falls, Idaho, cowboy Cody Hancock score a 78. Mendes ended the day in fourth thanks to a great ride by Hooper's Brian Wilson, who has a good grip on second place after riding a bull named 171 for a score of 80.
"I've been on him three times," Wilson said. "I got bucked the first two times, so I guess the third time is a charm." With thousands of dollars at stake in the event, Wilson is hoping his score will remain near the top so he can take home a sizable paycheck for his eight seconds of hard labor.
Other cowboys to make a good showing included steer wrestler T.W. Parker. His time of 4.0 is the best single run time of the rodeo so far and helped him earn the winner's share of the days money.
Defending All-Around World Champ Dan Mortensen's score of 81 is still easily the best saddle bronc score of the rodeo, but Monday saw Craig Latham ride Spotted Fever for a 75 to earn at least a temporary hold on second place. "No, I'm not satisfied," Latham said of his score. "But I'll take it, though. He had some great bucking going and gave me a pretty good ride."
Also making a good showing was Lehi native Nancy Hunter. The barrel racer was the first rider of the evening and turned in the best time.
Her 13.64 ride was just .18 off the leading time of 13.46 posted by Jamie Richards. It was also good enough to put Hunter in third place with four more nights of riding to go.