Maben sets arena record in barrel racing

Maben, of Spur, Texas, won her fourth round in an arena-record time Tuesday night in the sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo.

Maben's time of 13.58 seconds bested Tammy Key's 13.63 in 2002, and lifted Maben from third to first in the world standings with $145,008.

Mary Burger of Pauls Valley, Okla., who placed third in the round at 13.73, stayed in second with $141,895. Brittany Pozzi of Victoria, Texas, fell from first to third with $134,806.

Maben said her horse, Bubba, could not have run the barrels any better.

"If (the dirt) has a little slide to it where they can get a hold of it, he can go and leave the barrels," she said.

Brandie Halls, of Carpenter, Wyo., placed second in the round with a time of 13.71.

In steer wrestling, Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., narrowed the lead of Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Neb., to just over $4,000 by tying for first with a time of 3.7 seconds. Gabe Ledoux of Kaplan, La., tied with Branquinho, and Gorsuch placed ninth in the round.

"When you get to Vegas, there is so much excitement that I try to block it out and go make good runs," Branquinho said. "It's worked out three times. The other three times, not so good. I've got four steers left and, hopefully, I can do it good there."

In bull riding, B.J. Schumacher of Hillsboro, Wis., took over the world standings lead from Matt Austin of Wills Point, Texas, who withdrew from further competition on Sunday. Schumacher leads with $162,288, and Austin, the defending world champ, is second with $157,716.

Dustin Elliott of North Platte, Neb., took first in the round with an 88.5 on Foolish Man.

In bareback riding, defending world champion and world standings leader Will Lowe of Canyon, Texas, continues to hold a sizable lead. Runner-up Andy Martinez of Pavillion, Wyo., trails by just over $74,000.

Lowe, who placed seventh in Tuesday's round, has earned $62,406 at the NFR and now has $214,331 in world earnings.

Royce Ford of Briggsdale, Colo., won the round with an 87.5 on Wise Guy.

In team roping, Garrett Tonozzi of Fruita, Colo., and Brady Minor of Ellensburg, Wash., claimed first place in 4.1. Speed Williams of De Leon, Texas, and Clay O'Brien Cooper of Morgan Mill, Texas, who didn't place in the round, continue to lead the world standings with $116,512 apiece.

In saddle bronc riding, Cody Wright of Milford, Utah, was the round's winning rider with a score of 89 on Fire Fly. Chad Ferley of Oelrichs, S.D., who has earned $180,344, remains the standings leader over runner-up Cody DeMoss of Heflin, La., who has won $170,868.

In tie-down roping, Cody Ohl of Hico, Texas, increased his sizable world lead over Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, to just over $67,000.

Five-time world tie-down roping champion Ohl finished third in a time of 7.9 seconds, and also took over the NFR aggregate lead. Ohl now has $43,499 at the NFR, compared to $42,379 for runner-up Joe Beaver of Huntsville, Texas.

Taking first in the sixth round was Matt Shiozawa of Chubbuck, Idaho, in 7.2 seconds.

In all-around, Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, increased his lead to more than $112,000.