RODEO

Indian National Finals Rodeo

First-time winners shine in Las Vegas

Doka, Tso use same strategy to rope to world titles

By Quentin Jodie
Navajo Times

LAS VEGAS, Nev., Nov. 17, 2011

For most, the theme surrounding the 2011 Indian National Finals Rodeo seemed to be veteran cowboys rediscovering their foundation of youth.

They found it all right but a new wave of contestants also made their presence known at this year's finals, which was held at the South Point Equestrian Center.

One of those contestants was Justine Doka, who won the breakaway event.

"It was nice to see that those guys can still compete," Doka said of rodeo veterans Benny Begay, Victor Begay and Ed Holyan.

"I am not sure if I'll compete as long as they have, but at least I know that I have a world title," she said.

Doka, who is part Navajo, Zuni, Yavapai Apache and Irish-American, capped the four-day event with a sizzling 3.9-second run in Saturday night's final performance to claim this year's title with a 15.1 cumulative.

"First of all, I just wanted to let the calf out," Doka said of her strategy. "I wanted to make sure I got out with a clean barrier and then I just needed to get up there and rope him because I had 11 seconds to play with."

Still it was easier said than done because the draws were coming out fast. Too fast for some contestants as more than half the field posted no times.

"They were all running hard, but in this event sometimes all you need to do is catch four," Doka said. "That was my whole game plan coming into the finals."

Incidentally, 2011 champion team roper Roderick Tso, of Fort Defiance, had the same game plan.

As a seven-time INFR qualifier, Tso has had his share of bad luck in recent years but after he calmly roped his end of a 6.9-second run with partner Victor Begay, Tso watched the next team come up a tad short.

"This is my first title ever. I've had some finals like that," Tso said, alluding to the team of Willie Covers Up and Ed Harry, who lost the title on a five-second penalty.

In fact, he suffered the same misfortune last year at the International Indian Finals Rodeo.

"I partnered up with Victor at the IIFR and I blew that to win a world title because I rushed myself," Tso said. "But I learned from that."

Rather than beat himself, Tso made sure he was off the barrier and after a couple of swings he roped the steer before Begay double-hawked him.

"All I want to do was set one up for him," Tso said.

And with four clean runs, the pair finished first in the average with a 33.4-second aggregate. The team of Covers Up and Harry came in second with a 37.8 cumulative.

As for roping with Begay, Tso said it wasn't difficult to determine how Begay liked his steers turned.

"I've roped with a bunch of guys left and right and I usually critique them," Tso said. "I sort of watch them and I get an idea of how they like their steers handled."

In other events, Brent Dodging Horse claimed the steer-wrestling event with a 19.4 aggregate. Before Saturday's final, the Alberta, Canada, cowboy had a 2.8-second lead and slam-dunked the title with a 4.8-second run.

T.R. Connelly of Browning, Mont., finished a distant second with a 26.8 aggregate.

In the bull riding, Shawn Best Jr. of Omak, Wash., rode three of four bulls and won the title with an 80-point ride in the last performance, which pushed his total to 215 points, 13 points more than Koty Braugh of Mandaree, N.D.