STEER ROPING winner during last weekend's San Angelo Roping Fiesta was Todd Caseboldt, second from left, of Ryan, Okla. Flanking Caseboldt are, from left, San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Association president Ben McCulloch, Jimmy Watson and Larry Coates of Coates Saddlery, and Roping Fiesta chairman Tony Churchill.

CALF ROPER Fred Whitfield, Hockley, left, cruised to a solid win in the matched calf roping portion of the San Angelo Roping Fiesta over the weekend. Stephenville cowboy Cody Ohl, right, is seen seconds before almost catching number three, the calf that helped cost him the contest.

Whitfield Takes Angelo Match,
Caseboldt Tops Field On Steers

SAN ANGELO — Two of the big winners in San Angelo's Roping Fiesta last weekend faced an uncommon challenge — time to kill.

Both match roping winner Fred Whitfield, Hockley, Texas, and steer roping victor Todd Caseboldt, Ryan, Okla., entered the final stretch of their respective events with significant leads over their opponents. It was the sort of situation that invites a foul-up, but both ropers prevailed.

Saturday's 12-head matched calf roping pitted Whitfield against Cody Ohl, Stephenville. Ohl took an early lead with a 10.35-second run on the first calf against 13.08 for Whitfield. A 9.64 for Whitfield against Ohl's 10.88 trimmed the lead by the second calf, and then things went sour for Ohl.

His loop fell just shy on his third calf, but Ohl was already on the ground and headed down the rope before he realized it; by the time he remounted, the calf was well down the arena, and a second loop from too great a distance missed as well. Ohl's three-loop run eventually stretched to 40.02 seconds, a deficit of more than 29 seconds after Whitfield's 9.26.

With nothing to lose and a huge time lag to make up, Ohl tied calf number four in 8.35 seconds against 11.55 for Whitfield. Number five was 10.26 for Ohl against 11.66 for Whitfield, and six was 8.57 against 14.59. That trimmed Whitfield's lead by more than 10 seconds at the halfway point, to 18.65 seconds.

A broken barrier or missed loop for Whitfield was all it would take to make a contest of it again.

Ohl continued to press in the second half, turning in times of 9.43, 9.92, 9.25, 10.69, 8.61, and 10.62. Whitfield nursed his lead carefully, turning in only one second-half run under 10 seconds.

In the end, Ohl had peeled away much of his deficit but not nearly enough; Whitfield held an 11.5-second margin with a total time of 135.45 seconds and an 11.29-second average against 146.95 seconds and a 12.25-second average for Ohl.

Ironically, Ohl's total time was faster than five of the nine previous matches for this decade, all but four of the times for the 1980s, and better than nine out of 10 times set in the 1970s. It says something for the sport's evolution when a total that good can be 11 and a half seconds off the winning mark.

Caseboldt's leisure time in Sunday's steer roping wasn't as great as Whitfield's in Saturday's match, but it was enough to tempt fate.

Aided by a first-place 10.38 in the second go-round and a third-place 12.3 in the third go, Caseboldt entered the short go of the steer roping with a lead of 8.64 seconds over his nearest challenger, Rocky Garnett, McAlester, Okla. Garnett's 14.4 seconds on his fourth and final steer left Caseboldt a 23.04-second window.

Caseboldt took his time, not chances, and tied his final steer in 18.55 for a total time on four head of 54.98 against 59.47 for Garnett and 64.83 for J.B. Whatley, Gardendale. DeLynn Jones, Hobbs, N.M., had 65.18, Doug Clark, Wayne Okla., 67.31, and Wade Lewis, Hereford, 68.65.

Clay Cerny, Eagle Lake, Texas, won Saturday's jackpot calf roping with a total time of 30.04 on three head. He was followed by Ohl with 31.4, Blair Burk, Durant, Okla., with 32.21, and Whitfield with 33.16.

Sunday's junior matched calf roping belonged to Todd Gould, Livingston, Ala., who bested Cash Myers of Athens, Texas by 67.53 seconds on eight head.

Jackpot calf roping:

First go-round: 1. Clay Cerny, 9.57 seconds; 2. Cody Ohl, 9.73; 3. Joe Jameson, Colorado City, Texas, 10.22; 4. Justin Hankins, Rocksprings, 10.35.

Second go: 1. Carter Edmonson, McCaulley, 9.22; 2. Trevor Brazile, Krum, 9.69; 3. Ty Hays, Weatherford, 9.71; 4. Neal Felton, Mountain Home, 9.71.

Short Go: 1. Cerny, 9.02; 2. Blair Burk, 9.12; 3. Ohl, 9.31; 4. Fred Whitfield, 9.7.

Steer roping:

First go: 1.Rich Skelton, Llano, 12.99; 2. Leo Campbell, Amarillo, 13.02; 3. J. Paul Williams, Ponca City, Okla., 13.55; 4. Rocky Garnett, McAlester, Okla., 13.71.

Second go: 1.Todd Caseboldt, 10.38; 2. Lionel Burns, Lovington, N.M., 12.64; 3. Buster Record, Buffalo, Okla., 13.73; 4. Jim Davis, Abilene, 13.93.

Third go: 1. Cody Ohl, 11.44; 2. Rod Hartness, Pawhuska, Okla., 11.66; 3. Caseboldt, 12.3; 4. Sid Howard, Canyon, 12.39.

Short go: David Felton, Weatherford, 11.71; 2. J.B. Whatley, 13.48; 3. Rocky Garnett, 14.4; 4. Doug Clark, Wayne, Okla., 15.59.