Team roping heeler Lane Mitchell has been hoping for something big to happen.
Sitting just outside the top 25 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings coming into the week, Mitchell knows he has work to do if he wants to qualify for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in December.
He and partner Lightning Aguilera finally got the momentum shifting results they have been chasing.
The duo capped off a wildly successful week with a big win at the Days of ’76 Rodeo in Deadwood, S.D., placing second in each round and winning the average title for a $7,097 payday.
“It feels really good to end the week off with a big win. The money is always good. I’m a little behind, so every dollar counts,” Mitchell said.
The tandem set themselves up for success in Deadwood by being steady on both of their runs.
In the first round, they tied with Brye Crites/Tyler Worley for runner-up with a time of 5.1 seconds. To follow that up, the pair finished second again, this time going for 4.9 seconds in the second go. The 10-second total was easily the best aggregate time of the rodeo as Crites/Worley finished a distant runner-up at 11.7 seconds.
“We drew good, and I got me two good goes and just kind of let Lane do his job,” Aguilera said. “I try to just go at them, and he makes sure he stops the clock.”
The outcome in Deadwood was certainly the biggest result of the week, but it was only one piece of a larger puzzle.
Aguilera/Mitchell also won a round at the Ogden (Utah) Pioneer Days, won the qualifier at the Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days and placed in rounds at the Days of ’47 Rodeo in Salt Lake City and Snake River Stampede in Nampa, Idaho. Combined, the last 10 days of rodeoing have been worth just shy of $20,000 towards each of their ledgers.
Coming into the week, Aguilera sat 14th in the header world standings with slightly less than $65,000 in earnings. Mitchell was 26th with exactly $48,000 to his credit.
While there’s still a lot of season to play out before the Top 15 is finalized by Sept. 30, more stretches like this will be helpful to get the pair where they ultimately want to go – Las Vegas in December.
“It was awesome. We had a great week and needed it too because everyone is winning it seems like right now,” Aguilera said.
Added Mitchell: “It was a big week for us, and we needed it.”
Other winners at the $284,153 rodeo were all-around cowboy Jason Schaffer ($2,354, tie-down roping, and team roping); bareback riders Leighton Berry (87 points on Harper & Morgan Rodeo’s Sippin Firewater) and R.C. Landingham (87 points on Dakota Rodeo’s American Graffiti); steer wrestler Gus Franzen (8.8 seconds on two head); saddle bronc rider Q McWhorter (87.5 points on Sutton Rodeos’ South Point); tie-down ropers Blane Cox and Dylan Hancock (18.8 seconds on two head); steer roper Kelton McMillen (37.0 seconds on three head); barrel racer Wenda Johnson (17.16 seconds) and bull rider Jestyn Woodward (88.5 points on Dakota Rodeo’s Dr Campbell).
Courtesy of PRCA
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