Rodeo contenders hang tough

Fallon’s competitors are hanging tough despite the trials at the National High School Rodeo Finals, which began on Sunday at Gillette, Wyo.

Of the six from Fallon, team ropers Cord and Caleb Hendrix as well as Blain Jensen and Jake Cerini suffered from no-time scores in the first go on Sunday night. Additionally, Cord Hendrix had further trouble in the bull riding competition and fell off, resulting in a no score.

Cerini, who was unable to rope his steer that resulted in the no-time, has another shot Saturday morning along with Jensen in their second-go.

“It’s a big spot, and I wasn’t fully focused,” Cerini said. “I messed up.”

With practices every morning, Cerini is striving to improve his corner shot for the next round and said he feels good about his prospects despite a rocky start.

“Like I said before,” he said referring to a previous interview, “we put in all the time and practice it takes, I like to go fast in the go-round so we’re just going to do our best and give our all. It’s a really big stage in a place like this and its really nerve wracking. It’s a tough place to do well but I think we’re going to do much better in the next round now.”

Jensen, who said he also feels they have another chance to prove themselves, also said he wouldn’t call this a second chance since nothing is guaranteed due to the nature of scoring.

“You’re guaranteed two steers to run, so you’re guaranteed two runs, but it’s not necessarily a second chance because it takes you out of the average,” Jensen said. “Rodeo is an average sport, which means if you do good on the two runs, you get to come back for the third one. If you miss the first one, you’re pretty much out unless something happens in the second round.”

With too many variables to figure out why they missed their steer in the first round, Jensen is focused on the next go and said he and his partner, as well as the Hendrix brothers, can still accomplish success.

“We’re just focusing on making the run and doing everything to the best of our ability,” he said. “I feel like (the Hendrix’s) just need to go and catch like they always do. They can do it no big deal, they’ve been practicing a lot so they should be fine. I also feel like (Jake and I) have a pretty good chance too.”