SAN ANGELO, Texas – For most of her life, Teri Bangart dreamed of competing in barrel racing against the best cowgirls in the country.
She’s doing it now. On Sunday afternoon during the fourth performance of the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo, Bangart proved why she’s on the rodeo trail. She and her mount, RCAs Three Bugs Honor, rounded the cloverleaf pattern in 14.21 seconds to take the second-round lead in commanding fashion.
She and Peak also own the fastest time in the two-run aggregate and are holding out hope that they can return San Angelo for the Feb. 16 championship round, which will feature just the top 12 contestants in each event from the preliminary rounds.
“I just wanted to have a good run under my belt,” said Bangart of Olympia, Wash., who is on her third year as a member of the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association. “It’s been kind of a trying month. Just having a good run in that pen was great, and the building was electrifying. The crowd was amazing.
“My horse feeds off the energy in that building. He was on a roll today.”
So is Bangart. She capped off the 2017 season as the Columbia River Circuit champion and is taking a run on the ProRodeo trail away from her Washington home for the first time in her life. Of course, this is all fairly new to the mother of two.
She grew up with horses, but just had them around for pleasure. She didn’t start running barrels until 12 years ago, once she’d started her family. Now that she has her trusty stead, she decided to see how life would be on the road and away from family.
“I’ve been gone since Jan. 16,” she said. “I talk to my kids at least every other day, but we text every day. They’re really supportive, and that’s great. That helps a lot, especially since I’ll be gone for six weeks.”
She has a good chance to place high in the second round. In order to make it back for the short round, though, she’ll have to have one of the top 12 cumulative times on two runs. Now Bangart will have to wait through six more preliminary performances to see if she and Peak will have another shot inside that electric coliseum.
“I would love to place at San Angelo,” she said. “If we could place fairly well, it would be a way of saying were supposed to be down here. To run against great horses and outstanding riders is pretty awesome.”
Jordan Wacey Spears has proven to be one of the top bull riders in the game. He is coming off his third qualification to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, where he finished seventh in the world standings. On Sunday afternoon, he rode Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Buzzard Breath for 88.5 points to move into second place in the standings.
That gives him a great chance to return for the short round and compete for the San Angelo crown.
“That was a great-feeling bull, the one guys want to get on,” said Spears of Redding, Calif. “It felt good to get on a bull like that. It was one of the better bulls I’ve been on this year.”
Spears has had plenty of success inside the San Angelo Coliseum over the years, and he’s looking to add to it again this year.
“Pete Carr brings a bunch of really good bulls here,” he said. “You know you can win on these bulls, and the crowd is always great. The fans definitely show up, and there’s a lot of energy in the building. It makes for better rides, better scores and faster times.”
That showed Sunday.
San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo
Feb. 2-4, Feb. 9-11, Feb. 14-16
Bareback riding leaders: 1. Luke Creasy, 86.5 points on Lancaster and Jones’ Total Equine’s North Country; 2. (tie) Will Lowe, Tanner Aus and Justin Pollmiller, 85; 5. (tie) Jake Brown and Tilden Hooper, 81; 7. Kash Wilson, 80.5; 8. Taylor Broussard, 77; 9. (tie) Dayton Swearingen, Tyler Berghuis, Kody Lamb, Wyatt Ortega and Kyle Charley, 76.
Steer wrestling: First round leaders: 1. Tyler Waguespack, 4.0 seconds; 2. (tie) Will Lummus and Tyler Pearson, 4.2; 4. (tie) Cody Cabral, Ty Erickson and Kyle Irwin, 4.3; 7. (tie) Blaine Jones and Billy Bugenig, 4.4; 5. (tie) Tom Lewis and Badger Chambers, 4.8; 7. J.D. Struxness, 5.0; 8. Olin Hannum, 5.1. Second round leaders: 1. Dirk Tavenner, 3.4 seconds; 2. Blake Knowles, 3.9; 3. (tie) Scott Guenthner, Blaine Jones and Cody Kroul, 4.1; 6. (tie) Tyler Person, Tyler Waguespack and Will Lummus, 4.5. Average leaders: 1. (tie) Tyler Waguespack and Blaine Jones, 8.5 seconds on two runs; 3. Scott Guenthner, 8.6; 4. (tie) Tyler Pearson and Will Lummus, 8.7; 6. Bridger Chambers, 10.0; 7. Kyle Irwin, 19.2; 8. Dirk Tavenner, 3.4 seconds on one run; 9. Blake Knowles, 3.9.
Team roping: First round leaders: 1. (tie) Clay Smith/Paul Eaves and Cory Kidd V/Caleb Anderson, 4.0 seconds; 2. Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins,4.1; 4. Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 4.2; 5. Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 4.3; 6. (tie) Levi Simpson/Jeremy Buhler and Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 4.4; 8. Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter, 5.4. Second round leaders: 1. Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter, 3.6 seconds; 2. Bubba Buckaloo/Joseph Harriwon, 3.8; 3. Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 4.0; 4. (tie) Tyler Wade/Trey Yates and Paul David Tierney/Tanner Braden, 4.1; 6. (tie) Clay Smith/Paul Eaves and Ty Blasingame/Levi Tyan, 4.3; 8. Tanner Baldwin/Tanner Luttrell, 4.7. Average: 1. (tie) Clay Smith/Paul Eaves Tom Richards/Jake Smith, 8.3 seconds on two runs; 3. Paul David Tierney/TannerBraden, 9.5; 4. (tie) Nelson Wyatt/Trace Porter and Tyler Wade/Trey Yates, 9.0; 6. Lane Ivy/Buddy Hawkins II, 13.1; 7. Bart Brunson/Wesley Brunson, 14.9; 8. Bubba Buckaloo/Joseph Harrison, 18.7; 9. Cory Kidd V/Caleb Anderson, 4.0 seconds on one run; no other qualified runs.
Saddle bronc riding leaders: 1. Ryder Wright, 85.5 points on Pete Carr’s Classic Pro Rodeo’s Sweet Maria; 2. Sterling Crawley, 84; 3. Rusty Wright, 81.5; 4. Lefty Holman, 80.5; 5. James Greeson, 80; 6. Isaac Diaz, 79; 7. Kolby Wanchuk, 76.5; 8. (tie) Tom Knight, Lane Watt, Wyatt Casper, Joey Sonnier, Jesse Wright and Mason Laviolette, 76.
Tie-down roping: First round leaders: 1. (tie) Cory Solomon and Westyn Hughes, 7.7 seconds; 3. Cody Quaney, 8.5; 4. J.D. McQuistion, 9.1; 5. Reno Gonzales, 9.5; 6. Riley Pruitt, 19.4; 7. Randall Carlsile, 12.1; 8. Ty Harris, 12.2. Second round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 7.4 seconds; 2. Randall Carlisle, 8.5; 3. Reno Gonzales, 9.7; 4. Ace Slone, 10.0; 5. J.D. McQuistion, 10.4; 6. Taylor Santos, 11.3; 7. Riley Pruitt, 12.0; 8. Cody Quaney, 18.8. Average: 1. Reno Gonzales, 19.2 seconds on two runs; 2. J.D. McQuistion, 19.5; 3. Randall Carlisle, 20.6; 4. Riley Pruitt, 22.4; 5. Cody Quaney, 27.3; 6. Westyn Hughes, 31.9; 7. Sterling Smith, 32.2; 8. Taylor Santos, 33.2; 9. Trevor Brazile, 7.4 seconds on one run.
Barrel racing: Second round leaders: 1. Teri Bangart, 14.21 seconds; 2. Kaycie Teague, 14.35; 3. Kelli Barichello, 14.44; 4. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 14.46; 5. Kasey Hall, 14.49; 6. Bridget Carr, 14.52;75. (tie) Megan Mariluch and Suzanne Brooks, 14.56; 9, Jimmie Smith, 14.60; 10. Kasey Kretzschmar, 14.61. Average leaders: 1. Teri Bangart, 30.59 seconds on two runs; 2. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi, 30.73; 3. Kaycie Teague, 30.78; 4. Kelli Barichello, 30.86; 5. Suzanne Brooks, 30.96; 6. Nicole Laurence, 30.97; 7. Kasey Hall, 30.99; 8. Megan Mariluch, 31.01; 9. Bridget Carr, 31.02; 10. Jodi Colton, 31.03; 11. Kasey Kretzschmar, 31.04; 12. Lyndee Stairs.
Bull riding leaders: 1. Trey Benton III, 90.5 points on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Air Marshal; 2. Jordan Wacey Spears, 88.5; 3. Tyler Bingham, 87; 4. Ednei Caminhas, 85.5; 5. Colten Gardner, 83; 6. Nate Perry, 82; 7. Reid Barker, 79.5; 8. Shane Proctor, 77.5; 9. Dave Mason, 74; no other qualified rides.