Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Shad Mayfield comes out of the chute during his Saturday run at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada - Halfway through the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Clovis' Shad Mayfield is not in the driver's seat. But he's certainly in striking distance of defending his world championship in tie-down roping.
Entering Tuesday night's competition, Mayfield was third in the world standings with $195,909.77 in earnings. He trails Shane Hanchey ($212,076.43) and Caleb Smidt ($210,457.71).
With a top prize of $26,997 at each of the remaining five rounds, the rankings could move wildly for the 15 competitors in Las Vegas.
The top five, which also includes Westyn Hughes and Tuf Cooper, are all within $40,000 of each other.
Between three rounds Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Mayfield took a win on Sunday and finished out of the money on the other two nights. Despite finishing out of the money twice, Mayfield actually gained ground on Hanchey, who finished out of the money all three rounds.
Smidt, though the five rounds, has two second-place finishes and two fourth-place finishes. His run of 7.9 seconds gave him a tie for second place and $18,724 to vault him above Mayfield in the standings.
Marty Yates won the Monday competition at 7.3 seconds.
Sunday saw Mayfield edge the field at 7.6 seconds, just besting Cooper and Smidt at 7.7.
On Saturday, Mayfield took a no time when his calf broke loose from the rope.
