Adams’ Go Old-School in Salinas

By Blaine Santos July 29, 2011

If some of the legends who have roped in the huge arena at the California Rodeo throughout its 101-year history were watching this year’s edition from above on July 24, the team roping winners made them proud and brought back fond memories of a bygone era.

Team ropers and brothers Jay and Randon Adams from Logandale, Nev., have significantly cut back their rodeo schedules in 2011, but Salinas is one they wouldn’t miss. The California Rodeo has amassed quite a bit of history in its 101 years, and this go-round, the Adams brothers navigated the grueling five-round competition with modern German motorcar precision and emerged on top.

They placed in four of the rounds on this PRCA Wrangler Million Dollar Tour, and their total time of 43.4 seconds was 1.6 seconds better than the second place team of Wade Wheatley and seven-time World Champion Clay O’Brien Cooper.

The way the Adams’ went about preparing for this year’s rodeo (pronounced ro-day-oh in the California Vaquero tradition) was as traditional and old-school as it gets. “We had to practice to come here, so we roped five steers out in the pasture,” said younger brother Jay, who handles the heading side for their team. “This place is so different, with the 35-foot score and the huge arena, it’s like roping out in the pasture sometimes. It’s just Western.

 

“Randon said we should try to rope some of the older ones [in the pasture] so they’d handle better, but it was getting pretty dark, so we just had to run the first ones we could find. We roped five of them out in that 80-acre pasture, and then loaded up and came over.”

The Adamses brought a couple of nice young horses to Salinas, Transmission and Rooster, that were bred and raised by their father, Wes, who died earlier this year. “They’re half-brothers by our stud, both 7 years old,” Jay said. “My dad was smart. He always said, ‘Let’s raise fast horses. You can’t replace speed.’ I got a call from our mom right after we roped. When I told her we had won it, she said, ‘If you see your dad there, give him a hug and a kiss for me.’

“I was already pretty emotional, because I’ve always wanted to win this rodeo, but to win it with my brother on those horses…When I heard that, I broke down. I’m as happy as I’ve ever been to win a rodeo,” Jay added. “When we decided to slow down our rodeo schedule and focus more on our family business, we thought about selling Transmission, the horse I rode here. We had some interest in him, and he would bring the dollars, but he was my dad’s favorite.”

Despite dealing with a painful pelvic injury, bareback rider Kaycee Feild had a dominating week at the Salinas Sports Complex. He shared the first-round win with four-time World Champion Bobby Mote and then came back to win the final outright by scoring 85 points on Western Rodeo’s Big Easy to earn $9,228 overall.

“This is my third time coming here, and I’d never won anything before,” Feild said. “This rodeo is awesome. It’s a

different environment, a different feeling here. It’s one of those you hear all those old guys talk about while you’re growing up. My dad [five-time World Champion, Lewis Field] won it a couple times. This buckle is definitely on everyone’s list.”

A breakout star at the event was bull rider A.J. Hamre (170 points on two head), who notched his first major championship at the event. The 30-year-old from Chino’s 2010 winnings totaled $6,695; in Salinas he earned $6,539 in a week!

The other champions were all-around cowboy Ryle Smith ($2,545), steer wrestler Dane Hanna (21.8 seconds on three head), saddle bronc riders Wade Sundell and Cody Wright (168 points on two head each), tie-down roper Cimarron Boardman (31.8 seconds on three head),  and barrel racer Christina Richman (63.77 seconds on four runs).

 

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