Joe Beaver is Round-Up's top cowboy

PENDLETON, Ore. -- Joe Beaver of Huntsville, Texas, the eight-time world all-around champion now has the Pendleton Round-Up all-around title to add to his list of accolades.

Several familiar names were added to the list of Pendleton champions today, however all but one of them are first time winners of the event buckles that they collected.

Beaver was leading in two events going into today's final round in Pendleton, but didn't rest on his work from earlier in the week. Beaver turned in a 9.9-second run in the calf roping to edge out Josh Peak for the crown.

Peak's time of 9.2 seconds was the fastest of the round, giving him a total time of 29.9 second on three calves for the week.

Beaver, who was leading the event going in to today's short go round, had the second fastest time of the day, and recorded 29.1 seconds on three calves throughout the week to win the 2006 Round-Up calf roping title. It's the first time he has won that event title in Pendleton.

Just three events later Beaver and his partners Nick Simmons of Colcord, Okla., were able to rope just fast enough to tie for the championship in that event as well. Their time of 6.2 seconds was fast enough to tie them with Jake Stanley of Hermiston, Ore., and Russell Cardoza of Knights Ferry, Calif., who had the fastest team roping run of the day at 5.5 seconds. None of the four co-champions in the team roping have ever won the event in Pendleton before. However, Stanley's win continues a long history of local cowboys based in Umatilla and Morrow counties who have won event or all-around titles at Pendleton.

Defending world champion Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, rode the Sankey bucking horse Tee Pee to an 86 point score today to win his first bareback title at Pendleton. Andy Martinez of Pavillion, Wyo., had the top ride of the day with an 89 on another Sankey horse, Owl Hoot Trail, and finished second in the event.

Canadian cowboy Rod Hay of Wildwood, Alberta, maintained his lock on the saddle bronc title, which has owned outright or split every year since 2003. Hay was co-champion in 2003, 2004 and won the title outright last year. He splits the 2006 title with Cody DeMoss of Heflin, La., Hay and DeMoss both scored 85 point rides today along with Bradley Harter of Weatherford, Texas, but since Hay and DeMoss were tied with higher scores than Harter going into the round they ended up sharing the title. For DeMoss, it is the first time he has won the saddle bronc title in Pendleton.

Defending steer wresting champion Tommy Cook of Heber City, Utah, who has won the title the last two years in his event wasn't able to make it three in a row, in spite of his lead going into today's final road. Brad Gleason of Touchet, Wash., turned in a 7.1 second run to steal the title from the defending champ. The best run of the day went to Chancey Gartner of Pasco, Wash., with a 4.5-second performance, but because he had only qualified on one steer going into today's round, Gleason's combined 17.9-second on three head was the fastest of the field. Gleason is also a first time champion at Pendleton in his event.

In the steer roping, Cash Myers run of 13.3 seconds was only one-tenth of a second off the fastest run of the day, but it was fast enough to earn him the title in the event. The fastest time of the day was 13.2 seconds, which was turned in by Scott Snedecor of Uvalde, Texas. Myers of Athens, Texas, was the 2005 all-around champion of the Round-Up, but this is his first steer roping crown.

In the bull riding, the highest score of the day also produced that event's champion. Mike Moore of Kankakee, Ill., turned in a 92-point ride on Western Rodeos' bull Poison Ivy. Moore was one of only four cowboys able to get a qualified ride out of the rank pen of bulls put in for the final round, but all of those who were able to stay on were rewarded with high scores. The lowest qualified ride of the day earned an 84.

In the barrel racing, Linzie Walker of Conway, Wash., turned in not only the fastest run of the day but the fastest run of the week on what has been described as the largest barrel racing venue in professional rodeo. Walker's 28.02-second run was nearly half a second faster than her nearest competitor. And, it is Walker's first barrel racing title in Pendleton.

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