Clay Smith Wins Round 4, Taylor Santos Takes Timed Event Lead

Two-time and reigning World Champion Header Clay Smith of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, turned in the fastest five runs of the 2020 Cinch Timed Event Championship tonight to handily win Round 4 with 53.4 seconds on five head. Meanwhile, Taylor Santos of Creston, California, took the overall TEC lead with 280.4 seconds on 20 head here at the 36 annual edition of Rodeo’s Ironman at the Lazy E Arena.

[Read: Team Roping Journal Extra Volume 4: Clay Smith]

While Smith’s in hot pursuit of a third-straight world heading title, he always makes and takes the time out of his busy rodeo schedule for the Timed Event.

“Obviously, the money’s great,” said Smith, who moved up to sixth in the overall TEC average race with 314.8 seconds on 20 head. “But it’s the Timed Event title we’re all after. This is a cowboy event, and being the strongest guy in five events is the ultimate. I have a passion to win this thing. It’s probably no surprise that the heading’s been my strongest event here so far, since that’s my job. But tonight was a pretty good night in all of them.”

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Rounding out the top five behind Santos are Jess Tierney of Hermosa, South Dakota, 285.2; Seth Hall of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 294.6; Paul David Tierney of Hermosa, South Dakota, 299.7; and Marcus Theriot of Poplarville, Mississippi, 303.5.

[Read: The Opportunity of a Lifetime: Santos Joins Brazile for Timed Event Tune-Up]

Shank Edwards of Tatum, New Mexico, sat out Round 4 after he and his horse took a nasty fall in the steer roping in Round 3. Edwards suffered broken ribs and a torn ACL in his left knee. He is not expected to return to the TEC arena this year.