Sports

The IC Cattle Company took top honors at the Clarendon Outdoor Entertainment Association’s annual Ranch Rodeo last Friday and Saturday during the 144th annual Saints’ Roost Celebration.

IC Cattle’s scores beat out 19 other local and regional ranch rodeo teams as working cowboys put their skills to the test. The team was made up of Randy Crump, Chance McAnear, Elwin McClesky, Cooper McClesky, and Tanner Hart.

The Circle M8 / Barnes team team finished second with Phillip Reynolds, Chance Holcombe, Blaine Brunson, and Jayde Smith; and the Huddleston Performance Horses team was third with Randy Crump, Gatlin Duncan, Jared Stoker, Jody Padilla, and Cutter McLain.

The Top Hand for the rodeo was awarded to Chance McAnear, and the Top Horse award was won by Ky Finck.

This year’s attendance for the three-day junior rodeo and ranch rodeo was 1,287, up significantly from last year’s 771 during the COVID-19 pandemic but still down from 2019’s attendance of 1,391.

The Junior Ranch Rodeo was won by Slash R team comprised of Sterlin Mitchell, Jaxon Stoker, Brazos Roberts, Blaine Roberts, and Ry Reynolds. The second place team was Rockin’ JM with Sterlin Mitchell, Ry Reynolds, Hazen Lamb, Grady Wilson, and Brazos Roberts; and the Spires team was third in the junior competition with Blaine Roberts, Brazos Roberts, Ry Reynolds, Brooks Myers, and Kale Brunson.

Top Hand winner for the Junior Ranch Rodeo was Sterlin Mitchell, and Ry Reynolds rode the Top Horse.

Junior Calf, Donkey, and Steer Riding and Mutton Bustin’ were held all three nights. Overall Mutton Bustin’ champion for the three nights was Rance Peters.

Overall Calf Riding Champion was Sheperd Green, the Overall Donkey Rider was Chance Anderson, and Steer Riding champion was Eli Ritchie.

Nightly winners of the junior events were as follows:

July 1 – Calf Scramble – Kelby Brownlee, Case Jones, and Parker Haynes; Mutton Bustin’ – Emma Howard; Calf Riding – Briggs Martin, Donley Riding – Lane Hardin; and Steer Riding – Brigs Martin.

July 2 – Calf Scramble – Reece Myers, Eli Ritchie, and Jayla Woodard; Mutton Bustin’ – Cutter Gaither; Calf Riding – Sheperd Green; Donkey Riding – Chance Anderson; and Steer Riding – Eli Ritchie.

July 3 – Calf Scramble – Parker Haynes, Caleb Askew, and Gray Bennett; Mutton Bustin’ – Rance Peters; Calf Riding – Colton Henson; Donkey Riding – Chance Anderson; and Steer Riding – Eli Ritchie.

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

CASPER, Wyo. – Cole Franks wasn’t quite sure what to get his dad for Father’s Day.

He and some of his teammates from the Clarendon (Texas) College rodeo team collaborated to provide the perfect present: three national championships in one fell swoop.

Franks is a sophomore at his hometown college, and his dad, Bret Franks, is the rodeo team’s coach. The Clarendon cowboys began competition last week with the goal of winning the men’s team title; they got a little more than that to go with it.

Cole Franks won three rounds and placed in a fourth to win the bareback riding crown. He also added points in saddle bronc riding, and that helped him to the coveted all-around championship. Of all the awards and accolades he received last week at the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, one sticks out more than the rest.

“Of the three, the team title means the most because since the first day of school, that was the top goal of this team,” he said. “We’ve all been pushing each other for it. We’ve been doing everything we could to make it possible.

“Winning that is a combination of doing something together as a team and for helping Dad win his first national title. It might even mean more for Dad. All of us on the team wanted to win the title, but I know Dad was really wanting to win that team championship.”

Cole Franks was joined at the college finals by bull rider Dawson Gleaves and bronc riders Keene Justesen, Brody Wells, Cash Wilson and Weston Patterson. Five of the six Bulldogs earned points, which also help toward the team standings. Clarendon finished the seven-day championship with 890 points, 100 points better than the runner-up, Panola (Texas) College, which was the defending men’s team titlist.

“We had a great week,” said Bret Franks, who just finished his sixth season leading the Clarendon rodeo team. “The boys came up here and were ready to compete, and they did. The good thing about my guys is that they’ve all been rodeoing, so there wasn’t a whole lot of practicing or worrying about whether or not they’d be ready.

“The thing I’m most proud about is that before I even took this job, I lived in Clarendon. With a facility like the college has, I feel like I could have a national championship within five years if the college got behind a coach. It’s just an awesome facility, and it’s a good place to be. The people are friendly, and the board of regents are awesome and have been very supportive. Yes, this is my sixth year, but we didn’t have a CNFR last year, so this was my fifth try.”

The Bulldogs earned the opportunity to battle for the team title by winning the men’s championship in the Southwest Region. That allowed Clarendon to have a full team of six cowboys in Casper. With more players, there are more chances for points, and Clarendon took advantage of that. Three of the cowboys earned their way into four spots in the championship round, with Cole Franks qualifying in both events.

Weston Patterson finished as the runner-up to the national champion in saddle bronc riding. Cash Wilson was seventh, and Franks finished 12th. But the coach’s son has excelled in bareback riding, even though his dad was a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in bronc riding.

“I’ve coached Cole all the way up in just about everything in rodeo,” Bret Franks said. “I have great friends. Between (bareback riding world champions) Jeff Collins and Mark Gomes, he’s been around winners, and we all have the same mindset. Cole knows how to listen and respond.

“What I coach is fundamentals. It’s pretty simple; there’s no science to it other than the mentality of it. There are four or five things you have to do in bareback riding fundamentally. If you do those things really good or better than everybody else, you’re going to be successful. That’s the way I’ve always taught Cole.”

Strong fundamentals work at all level of sport. Good athletes know well the drills that help them focus on the basics of the game. Great athletes are just the best at fundamentals all the way through and excel at the rest of their given ventures.

“Most of my coaching is not about what I did but more about what I wish I would have done,” he said. “I had marginal success doing what I did. I know what I should have done to be more successful.”

The proof is in the three national titles that will make their way to the tiny campus in the Texas Panhandle. They will join the saddle bronc national championships earned by Clarendon cowboys Wyatt Casper in 2016 and Riggin Smith in 2019.

“What we do is not a secret; we work harder than everybody else,” Bret Franks said. “That’s the way it’s going to be. If I find out somebody’s working harder than we are, then we’re going to find a way to outwork them in the end. That’s why I get kids to come to Clarendon. The kids I get want to be better. It’s really amazing when you see kids like that. They are in it to win it.”

That was his son’s mindset. Cole Franks also won the bareback and all-around championships in the region, then carried that momentum into the college finals. He’s also progressing well in ProRodeo, where he was in the top 20 in the world standings as of last week and was No. 1 in the bareback riding Rookie of the Year race.

“I wanted to win four rounds, but to win three rounds and place in the other is so cool,” said Cole Franks, who won the first, second and fourth rounds and placed fourth in the third go-round; he also accounted for 395.5 of the team’s point total. “I knew I needed to make the short round in the bronc riding for the all-around sake and the team’s sake. I hadn’t been on a bronc in two or three weeks before the college finals, so I just wanted to do the best I could on the horses I drew.”

He did that and a lot more. He’ll cherish the unity of his teammates and the direction he and others received from his dad, their coach.

“We were there to win the thing,” he said. “We had a meeting right when school was out, and the plan was to go up to Casper and have fun, but when it comes down to it, we were going up there to win, not just have fun.

“But we had a lot of fun winning.”

The Clarendon Broncos are moving on to New Deal in the Area Round on May 14 at Tascosa after their big win in Borger over Sunray last week. The Broncos fought back and dug themselves out of a hole in the first game after Sunray took the early lead. Clarendon won that game 8-6.

After scoring four runs in the first inning, the Bobcats went cold and the Broncos took advantage by evening out the game at four all in the second. Both teams posted a run in the third and went scoreless in the fourth. With the game tied at five, Jared Musick hit a critical single that scored one run and the Broncos would score another before that inning was done. The Broncos added one more in the sixth to get to a comfortable spot to secure the win.

Aiden Caudle has been strong all year on the mound and this game was no exception as he allowed only two hits and six runs in six and a third innings while posting 11 Sunray strikeouts. Harrison Howard came on to finish the game and earn the save for the Broncos.

The Broncos had 14 hits in the game with Howard, Brock Hatley, Jordan Herndon, and Koyt Tucek slamming multiple hits. Hatley and Howard each collected three hits in the game. Herndon, who has been speedy around the bases, led the way with two stolen bases of the nine that the Broncos recorded.

The Broncos took on Sunray in the second game on Saturday and earned a big 18-7 win. The Broncos posted nine hits in the game with only three errors. Sunray struggled at the plate to put runs on the bard and committed 18 errors in the field. The Broncos were able to capitalize on those errors to get the win.

A huge fourth inning proved to be golden for the Broncos as they scored nine runs to seal the win and earn the Bi-District title. The Bobcats tried to come back that same inning, but the Broncos handled the pressure and went the distance.

Hatley was on the mound for five innings for the Broncos and earned the win. Hatley only allowed four hits and struck out eight hitters. Levi Gates came in for one inning to relieve Hatley.

Big hitters for the Broncos were Easton Frausto, Calder Havens, Herndon, Lyric Smith, Caudle, Howard, and Hatley who all had several hits. The Broncos collected 20 stolen bases on the day with Smith claiming five of them.

The Broncos will play New Deal at Tascosa on May 14 at 5:00 p.m. There will be only one game.

The Lady Broncos have rebounded solidly this year after a short season last year and made the playoffs after missing a couple of years. They went up against a good Forsan team and were defeated in the best of three series.

The ladies played hard in the first game on Thursday but struggled to get hits late in the game falling 2-19. Forsan put up a run in each of the first two innings, before the Lady Broncos were able to touch Homeplate. One of the scores came when senior Aubrey Jaramillo grounded out but made the path home easy for the runner. The third inning was disastrous for the Lady Broncos as Forsan knocked down 15 runs to pull away.

Madi Smith was on the mound and took the loss. She allowed seven hits and struck out two. Jentrye Bellar stayed strong at the plate going three for three. Clarendon finished the game with two runs, five hits, and seven errors.

The Lady Broncos regrouped after the first loss to face off against Forsan in game two. They had their bats going in the game but fell short to cause a game three. They were defeated 6-11 to end their season.

Defensively, the Lady Broncos were sharp and ready in the opening two innings but allowed Forsan nine runs over the next two innings while remaining scoreless until the sixth.

Once again, Bellar had her bat going and had a big hit to get things rolling in the sixth. Bellar went deep in the seventh to post a home run. But it was not enough for the ladies as they took the loss racking up 12 hits and only three errors.

Bailey Bruce took the loss for Clarendon allowing 12 hits and 11 runs over six innings. Bellar, Ashlynn Crawford, and Bruce had multiple hits with Bellar leading the way with three hits in four at bats.

The Lady Broncos have not seen post-season play for a season or two, but they took care of business last week and shut out Memphis 16-0 to win the Bi-District trophy.

The ladies will continue in the playoffs with the Area round on Thurs., May 6, in Littlefield against Forsan. The first game will begin at 5 p.m. and the second game will follow. If a Game Three is needed it will be played at 5 p.m. on Fri., May 7, in Littlefield.

In the Memphis game, the ladies came on full-force and put up five quick runs in the first inning.

“We jumped on them early,” head coach Brad Elam said. “Five of the first six girls scored.”

After coming off a big first inning, the Lady Broncos stronger in the second and posted 11 huge runs on the scoreboard. Jentrye Bellar and Kaylin Hicks each knocked down a triple and Jayde Gribble joined in with a double in the game. Bellar, Hicks, and Madi Smith all put points on the board.
Smith was on the mound for the Lady Broncos and has proved herself over and over.

“Madi held Memphis hitless and pitched three perfect innings striking out six,” Elam said.

Four Hedley High School athletes are advancing to regionals after placing at the Area Meet on Monday.

Cara Lambert is the only Lady Owl to advance after winning the 300M Hurdles with a time of 50.24 and finishing second in the 3200M with a time of 14.00.

Running for the Owls and moving on to regionals, Joshua Booth won the 1600M with a time of 5:12.85, and Tyler Harper was fourth in the 1600M at 5:23.00. Iziak Weatherread placed fourth in the 3200M with a time of 12:34.22.

Also running at the Area Meet were Emma Lambert in the 100M dash and fifth in the 200M dash; Weatherread also ran sixth in the 1600M, Hayden Alston was fifth in the 3200M, and Astin McAllister was eighth in the 3200M.