RODEO: OC's Conrado takes barrel racing lead

Odessa College freshman Paige Conrado — who hails from Hudson, Colo. — finished her first barrel racing run in the 79th Annual SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo with a time of 14.29 seconds during slack Monday, good enough to finish 10th in the go.

During Wednesday’s round of slack, things went much, much better for Conrado.

Riding her mare Charm, Conrado raced around the three barrels in 14.0 seconds. That was good enough for the lead in the second go, along with the average, with just three performances remaining in the event.

It’s the start, Conrado hopes, of a very good year.

“It was a great run,” Conrado, 18, said of just her second pass on the dirt of Ector County Coliseum. “I’ve decided to work hard this year at making the Wrangler National Finals and this would be a great way to start.”

In order to have a chance to make it to Las Vegas, Conrado is going to have to participate in the top rodeos during the winter — Odessa, Denver, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Jackson, Miss.

Conrado is up in Denver next week and has qualified for San Antonio by virtue of a sixth-place finish recently at an event in Kansas City.

But the freshman hasn’t forgotten the five spring rodeos for Odessa College. On a full-ride scholarship with the program, she sits sixth in the Southwest Region standings and will be competing in the NIRA events as well.

To do that, she’ll be working online in the classroom this semester.

“It’s fortunate that I can take the classes online,” Conrado said. “I had a good fall and I want to continue to improve this spring and get to the College National Finals for Odessa College.”

>> FIT TO BE TIED: Clint Cooper of Decatur has strong roping bloodlines, and Wednesday night they came to the forefront in his tie-down roping run.

Catching the calf almost right out of the chute, Cooper was down the line and had the calf quickly on the ground before tying the three legs together in 8.7 seconds, a time that puts him among the leaders in the go round.

>> TOUGH ENOUGH?: Tonight is the SandHills Rodeo’s annual salute to the fight against breast cancer, as most of the contestants and all the officials will be wearing pink shirts during the evening.

>> ON TAP: With the fourth performance scheduled for 7 tonight, there are some top bull riders scheduled to arrive in the Permian Basin.

J.W. Harris, a two-time world champion, is slated to ride, pending his recovery from a broken foot at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.

If Harris is on the program, it means that Odessa’s own Shawn Hogg is as well, as the two often are traveling partners on the road. Another former Odessa College cowboy, D.J. Domangue is schedule to compete as well, making it a good night for Wranglers’ fans.