A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 16, 2017
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30TH FARM-CITY PRO RODEO
Champions crowned
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
A
pair of 2016 world champi-
ons in roper Tyson Durfey
and bronc rider Zeke Thur-
ston were on hand for the
final night of the 30th Farm-City
Pro Rodeo. Both cowboys have
followed up their championships
with another great season so far
and gave the Hermiston fans
something to cheer for with top
scores of the night in their respec-
tive events.
For Durfey, he tied his calf in
7.7 seconds to win the night and
the second round. A no time re-
corded in slack on Saturday af-
ternoon prevented Durfey from
winning any average money, but
he still managed a $1,737 payday
for his run.
“That’s definitely the best run
I’ve had here in Hermiston,” he
said. “I had a good calf ... they
actually won the first go round on
that calf so I knew he was going
to be good.
“But all the credit to my horse,
Nico, he was on point tonight. He
really worked sharp, scored good,
ran hard and allowed me to win.”
And for Thurston, he rode
Stampede Warrior from the Cal-
gary Stampede pen for 83.5
points for the $100 bonus. It was a
rematch for the pair, which Thur-
ston rode earlier in the year for a
lower score.
“It was a really nice horse and
I wish I could get on 100 like that
a year,” he said. “It’s fun to have.”
Thurston’s ride also boosted
him to a tie for third for the ro-
deo with Brody Cress, earning a
$2,461 check on his way out of
town.
“You want to win money ev-
erywhere, but I really enjoy it here
and all the Northwest rodeos,” he
said. “There’s a reason we keep
coming back, because they treat
us well and they’re all great rode-
os.”
Another world champion on
hand was four-time bareback
champ Kaycee Feild. The 2017
season has been a rough one for
Feild, as a late start with injury
and some bad luck currently has
him way down in the standings at
No. 33 nearly $28,000 behind the
final qualifying spot to the NFR.
However Feild’s luck has been
turning around in recent weeks
and it continued on Saturday as
he scored an 85.5 to tie him with
fellow Utah cowboy Mason Cle-
ments for the top ride of the night.
Feild took on Calgary Stam-
pede’s Reckless Margie which
was a match-up he had been wait-
ing on for a while.
“That horse was a lot of fun,”
he said. “If you stub your toe,
he’ll buck you off but if you ride
him right, eight seconds isn’t long
enough.”
See RODEO, Page A9
Above: Austin Foss of Terrebonne rides Special Delivery for 89
points in bareback riding Friday at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in
Hermiston.
Right: Tillar Murray, of Fort Worth, Texas, puts in the best barrel
racing time of the night Saturday at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo in
Hermiston.
STAFF PHOTOS BY E.J. HARRIS AND KATHY ANEY
New arena draws praise after months of tireless work
Cowboys, rodeo board
happy with new digs
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
When Farm-City Pro Rodeo
announcer Randy Corley and his
wife Michelle stopped by Herm-
iston in June to check out the new
rodeo grounds, they were both
surprised at what they saw. And
what they didn’t see.
“There was no grass or any-
thing here June 2, I can tell you
that,” Corley said prior to the start
of the 2017 event. “There were
studs on the Chute Eight (build-
ing), no walls, we had concrete
poured for seats but no bleachers,
no fences were in.”
However, as Corley and his
wife departed the rodeo grounds
more than two months ago, he
had no doubt that the Farm-City
board would be able to work its
magic and churn out the state-
of-the-art facility they set out to
build. When he rolled back into
Hermiston last week, he was not
disappointed.
“I’m not just sitting here brag-
ging on this committee because
I’m here,” he said. “I bragged
when I drove out of here when
most people would have thought
it would be impossible to have
this ready to go, and they did
it. They got down, rolled their
sleeves up and said ‘we’re going
to have it’ and they did have it.”
Construction and excavation
of the arena got underway in Oc-
tober, but work was slowed by
the abnormally cold and snowy
winter for the Hermiston area. It
led to a lot of overtime and tire-
less work for the past few months
by the rodeo board and numerous
volunteers that helped put the
finishing touches on the arena,
which opened its doors for busi-
ness Wednesday evening.
Board member David Bothum
STAFF PHOTO E.J. HARRIS
Rodeo announcer Randy Corley watches Brady Nicholes of Hoysville,
Utah, ride Duck Butter in saddle bronc riding on Wednesday in the new
Farm-City Pro Rodeo Arena in Hermiston.
said prior to the first performance
on Wednesday that seeing the
arena finished and people in the
stands allowed for a short sigh of
relief.
“We knew it would happen no
matter what,” he said. “We all
knew we’d do whatever it took
one way or another to get it done,
but it was a little stressful. It’s
been a complete whirlwind for
about four months so this is good
to finally see it finished.”
And the cowboys and cow-
girls were certainly appreciative
of the work put in and the new
facilities that they have to work
with. A few praised aspects of the
facility, including wider runs for
the timed events, a larger warm-
up area and even the expanded
parking area that made it easy to
navigate for the competitors.
Two-time steer wrestling
world champion Hunter Cure
was one of those with only pos-
itive things to say after his ride
Wednesday night.
“There’s only one grand open-
ing to anything,” he said. “And
with all the amount of man hours
and all the people working up to
the last minute today to get this
ready, you couldn’t ask for any-
thing better than you have here.
Job well done to everybody.”