On the bubble: Derrick Begay, Colter Todd still in the hunt for NFR berth
Navajo Times | Quentin Jodie
Seba Dalkai, Ariz., cowboy Derrick Begay finished in a two-way tie for second-place at the New Mexico State Fair on Sunday. Begay turned in a 4.9 run with heeling partner Colter Todd at Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque.
ALBUQUERQUE – They needed this.
After a successful spring and summer run in the PRCA ranks, the team roping combo of Derrick Begay and Colter Todd hit a month-long snag in their quest to make this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The duo was in desperate need of a win, and they turned things around at the New Mexico State Fair & Rodeo by recording a 4.9 run during Sunday morning’s slack performance inside Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque.
“The last month, travel-wise has been pretty good,” said Begay, a 20-year PRCA veteran. “But rodeo-wise, it’s been rough. Out of my whole career, this is the worst I’ve done down the stretch.”
The duo finished in a two-way tie for second place as the team of Billy Bob Brown and Josh Patton won the rodeo with a 4.6 run.
The Coy Rahlmann/Ross Ashford combo matched the 4.9 run turned in by the Begay/Todd duo as each roper was paid out $3,964.
“It’s nice to get that one caught,” Todd said. “It’s kind of like a sigh of relief because (Derrick has) been doing a good job and I haven’t. That’s the trouble there. When you haven’t caught anything your confidence isn’t very good.”
Todd, who hails from Wilcox, Arizona, doesn’t want to disappoint Begay as the two ropers have known each other for much of their lifetime.
“It’s different for me because I’m not roping with a partner,” Todd said. “I’m roping with a friend that, you know, has a lot of fans. I know that when I do bad, it’s more difficult for me because he’s a good friend.”
With roughly two weeks left in the regular season, the duo are hoping to find themselves in the top 15 in the world standings to make the finals in Vegas in early December.
Going into this week’s slate both cowboys are sitting 12th in the world with $104,084. (Also of note, Erich Rogers and his partner Paul Eaves are sitting 13th in the world with $102,929 and $103,164, respectively.)
“The saddest part, you know, is we were really in good shape three weeks ago,” Todd said. “It just shows how bad I’ve roped and how good the other guys have roped to close the gap.
“Right now, we just have to wait and see where we finish,” he added.
The duo is looking to close out this month with seven rodeos, including four this week.
“Within those seven rodeos, my job is to catch and do the best job for my partner, so that he can do his job,” Begay said. “If I can do that, I think we’ll be OK. But we need to win at these next seven rodeos for us to make the finals.”
Begay says there is no time to get complacent as the last two weeks of the regular season will determine their fate. Last year, the duo won the average title at the PRCA’s final rodeo event of the year. They were the only team to rope all 10 draws for an aggregate of 69.0 seconds.
“On one hand, it’s not fun roping this time of year if you’re trying to make the finals,” Begay said. “But on the other hand, I like the challenge.”
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