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Smith rides to second in St. Paul Rodeo |
By B. Scott
Anderson, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Scott at
banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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St. Paul resident
Dustin Smith was admittedly nervous Wednesday night.
In the final show of the 72nd annual St. Paul Rodeo, Smith, 19,
hopped on a bull and for his lone ride in his first Professional
Rodeo Cowboys Association event in St. Paul. By the time his ride
was complete, Smith, the great grandson of the founding president of
the St. Paul Rodeo and grandson and son of past St. Paul Rodeo
presidents, scored an 86 to finish second and pocket nearly $9,000.
Winning so much money wasn’t going to change Smith the day after the
event, he said.
“I just treat
it like any other day, but maybe with just a little bit bigger
smile,” he said.
Kevin Smith, the longtime secretary of the St. Paul Rodeo, said
Smith and rider Marcus Michaelis were tied with a score of 85, but
judges later ruled that Smith’s score was actually better and
awarded him second place.
“I just felt like I needed to get one rode,” Smith said. “That’s
what I was going for and letting the score take care of itself and
luckily it worked out really well.”
On Saturday night in the Pro Bull Riders event, Smith didn’t fare
as well. He was bucked off and didn’t place.
“I got a good one and he was known to be pretty ‘welly’ (bull
throws rider to inside of spin) and he got me on in the inside and
he pretty much stomped on me for a few seconds,” Smith said.
Competing in front of his tiny home town crowd, which is listed at
about 300, is a different experience, Smith said. It seems as if
nearly everyone knows everyone in the town and everyone was aware
Smith was competing.
“It was a little nerve racking riding in front of your home town,”
he said. “You want to show people what you’re made of. I got a lot
of compliments on my way out of the arena, though. It just felt
really cool to show my home town what I can do.”
Smith won’t have time to revel in his accomplishment. On Friday, he
traveled to Toppenish, Wash., to compete in another rodeo. He’ll
then travel to Utah to compete in a few other rodeos before he
competes at a rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyo., July 21-22. Still, his feat
in St. Paul Wednesday is special.
“It’s probably one of my highest accomplishments,” he said.
Now that he’s been able to compete at such a high level, Smith said
he doesn’t think there will be any more pressure on him in future
rodeos.
“I’ll just treat everything the same,” he said. “Right now, I’m
just trying to focus on riding percentage and ride anything I get
on. I’ll have my time. My time will come for the win.”
But hopefully before he has that first win, his mom, Cindy, will be
able to watch him compete. She can’t sit and watch her son compete
because she’s afraid her son will be injured in the rough sport.
Instead, Cindy just waits for her son’s phone call after his
competition.
“I would like her to watch more, but she supports me 100 percent,”
he said. “I respect the fact that she doesn’t want to watch, but I
give her a phone call every time after an event and let her know if
I’m hurt or not.” |
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From
July 7, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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