Duarte stands tall in Rapid City
Courtesy PRCA

Oft-injured Myron Duarte, who missed most of the 2007 season with a shoulder injury, displayed his talents as a healthy bull rider last weekend at the season opener of the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour, presented by B&W Trailer Hitches, in Rapid City, S.D. Duarte, of Auburn, Wash., rode three bulls for 241 points – featured by a 91-point ride in the final round – to win the Tour’s average and an event-best $9,212.

Duarte, an eight-time qualifier for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and reserve world champion in 2002, finished sixth in the first round with an 80 and didn’t place in the second round. In the final round, however, he rode Burns Rodeo’s Bo Alameda for 91 points to vault him to the top, four points better than Bobby Welsh of Gillette, Wyo.

Kanin Asay of Powell, Wyo., the top-earning cowboy during the 10-stop 2007 Xtreme Bulls Tour, also rode three bulls and scored 235 points to finish third.

                Cody Hancock of Taylor, Ariz., the 2000 world champion and 2007 Rapid City champion on the Dodge Xtreme Bulls Tour, was the top rider on two head, scoring 174 points. His 87-point ride was the top score of the second round. Tony Smart of Newton, Miss., took the early lead by topping the first-round chart with a score of 88 points.

Both Hancock and Smart recorded their round-winning rides aboard Broken Arrow Rodeo’s China Grove.

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