Ropin’ hot

Local cowboys finish 1 and 2

WINDOW ROCK

Last month’s Arizona Junior High School Rodeo Association state finals went according to plan for James Arviso and Trey Begay.

The two local cowboys put on a roping clinic and finished 1-2 in the average race. More importantly, they gained enough points to overtake a couple of ropers in the year-end standings.

Both cowboys will be competing at the 2017 National Junior High Finals Rodeo in Lebanon, Tennessee, which starts on Sunday.

Of the possible 45 points up for grabs at the state finals, Arviso added 42 points to his year-end total and finished as the state champion with 119 points.

“I had to work for it by roping all of my calves,” said the Gallup roper, who trailed then-event leader Slade Keith for a majority of the regular season.

Begay, meanwhile, collected 36.5 points and finished as the reserve state champion with 101.50. The Tuba City cowboy edged third place finisher Jace Thorstenson by a half-point while Keith dropped to fourth place.

Arviso placed second to open the state finals with a 3.4 run while Begay took fourth with a 3.87 effort. In the next round, Begay won the second go round with a 3.05 run and Arviso took third place honors by roping his draw in 4.4 seconds.

In the short round, Arviso posted a 2.83 run, which was the fastest run turned in during the three-day event.

With that run, Arviso took the three-run aggregate with a 10.630 effort.

“I had a good finals,” said Arviso, who edged Begay by over eight-tenths of a second for the average title.

With a 4.56 run, Begay finished fourth in the short round and finished with an 11.48 aggregate.

The Tuba City cowboy is scheduled to get his first draw at nationals on Monday night and his second one on June 23 in the morning performance with the top 20 contestants making it back to the short round on June 24.

Arviso gets his first calf on Monday morning and his second draw on June 23 in the night performance.

“I think he’s ready,” John Arviso said about his son. “He’s been practicing a lot at home. He’s been roping dummies and goats.”

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