Hawkins wins second NFR go-round title

Monday, Dec. 6, 1999 | 11:35 a.m.

"I had never seen that horse, but I knew a lot about him," said Hawkins, who earned $12,908. "He stood out a little bit tonight."

Lan Lajeunesse of Morgan, Utah, was second with an 85, and Mark Gomes of Nickerson, Kan., was third with an 84.

Hawkins leads Lajeunesse by $11,665 in the world standings. Lajeunesse has placed in each of the four rounds and has earned $38,795 at the NFR to move from 10th to second.

"Lan's been riding great," Hawkins said.

Lajeunesse is first in the NFR average, a combined score of each of the rounds that is worth $33,105 at the end of 10 nights of competition. Hawkins, who was bucked off the first night and finished out of the money Sunday, is 12th in the average.

"I'm not too worried about the average right now," Hawkins said. "I'm just going to stick to my game plan, ride some horses and have some fun."

In bull riding, only three competitors managed to stay aboard for eight seconds. Rob Bell of Canada was first with an 85. Cody Custer of Wickenburg, Ariz., was second with an 83, and Mike White of Lake Charles, La., was third with a 73.

Ryan Mapston of Geyser, Mont., and Bobby Griswold of Moore, Okla., tied for first place in the saddle bronc riding with 83s. Ty Murray of Stephenville, Texas, finished third with an 82.

In calf roping, Blair Burk of Durant, Okla., won with a 7.4-second run. Ricky Hyde of Conway, Ark., was second at 7.5 seconds, and Jerome Schneeberger of Ponca City, Okla., was third in 8.0 seconds.

Brad Gleason of Touchet, Wash., took over the world lead in steer wrestling with a 3.5-second run. Todd Suhn of Laramie, Wyo., and Ricky Huddleston of McAlester, Okla., tied for second at 3.7 seconds.

Defending world champion Kristie Peterson of Elbert, Colo., won the barrel racing with a 14.08-second run. World leader Sherry Cervi of Midland, Texas, and Kappy Allen of Austin, Texas, tied for second at 14.12 seconds.

In team roping, Daniel Green of Oakdale, Calif., and Allen Bach of Valley Home, Calif., won for the first time at 4.9 seconds to reclaim their lead in the world standings.