Rodeo: Lemond trying to find right mix with Adams
When you set a world record in team roping, everything has to be perfect — the catch with the head loop, the turning of the steer, the catch by the heeler and, most importantly, the speed of the finger on the stop watch.
JoJo Lemond of Andrews and his partner — 2008 world champion heeler Randon Adams — tied the world record of 3.5 seconds while winning the 2009 Buc Days Pro Rodeo in Corpus Christi.
Then, under the bright lights of Las Vegas, they went one-tenth better at the National Finals Rodeo at the Thomas & Mack Arena, setting a new world mark of 3.4 seconds during the ninth round of the competition.
It didn’t even last the night as Chad Masters and Jade Corkill went 3.3 in the same performance to take the go-round victory and the thunder.
“That was a pretty good run,” Lemond said, laughing at the memory of his brief world record. “Everything went just right and Randon and I really have gotten comfortable with each other’s styles.”
Lemond and Adams, after having taken some time off since Las Vegas, get back to work beginning tonight when the annual 77th Annual SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo comes to Ector County Coliseum.
The six-performance rodeo runs through Jan. 16, with the Grand Entry set for 7 p.m. each night.
Lemond is happy to be back in the Permian Basin after a year that saw him compete in 60 rodeos while qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo for the second consecutive year.
He’s hoping for a better result this year after he and Adams struggled early in their new partnership a season ago.
“It wasn’t really until the Fourth of July rodeos that we made a lot of money,” said Lemond, who will compete in both team roping and steer roping. “We were trying to get used to each other’s styles and it took a while, but we got really comfortable in the second part of the season and qualified for Las Vegas.
“This year, we’re both comfortable and I’ve set bigger goals for myself.”
As in winning the heading world championship.
After finishing seventh in the world in 2008, Lemond moved up to fifth in the standings after last year’s NFR. His goal is to capture this season.
That’s a far cry from his plans when he decided to go out on the road full time.
“I just wanted to make sure that I was paying the bills,” said Lemond, who is married with two children. “I wasn’t sure about my roping ability at first, but I found out that I can rope at this level and that’s given me a lot of confidence.
“We had a good year last year and I know that we can have a better one this year. We both want to win world championships.”
JOJO LEMOND
>> Born: Sept. 26, 1982, Roswell, N.M.
>> Lives: Andrews
>> Discipline: Team roper (header); steer roping
>> 2009 Finish: Fifth ($143,669)
>> Family: Wife, Blair; son, Newt; daughter, Shaylee
>> Highlights: Won the first performance at the 2009 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas with a 4.1-second run, placing in three other rounds with partner Randon Adams. ... Placed in four rounds at the 2008 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo with partner Martin Lucero. ... Began as a heeler in 2002, roping with former world champions Steve Northcott and Trevor Brazile. ... 1999 Texas State High School Rodeo Assocation team roping champion, with Colby Schneemann.
