Zane Kilgus put together the fastest run of Round 3 Friday night at the Cinch Timed Event Championship, winning the round with a 60.4-second aggregate across the event’s five disciplines, moving into the top five of the overall standings.
Kilgus, who entered the event just Wednesday March 4 as a last-minute replacement, climbed to fifth overall with 281.2 seconds after three of five rounds inside the Lazy E Arena.
While Kilgus didn’t post the fastest time in any single event, he put together a steady performance across the five-event format that includes heading, tie-down roping, heeling, steer wrestling and steer roping.
“I didn’t really watch the rest of the guys go,” Kilgus said. “Being second guy out, I just tried to keep my stuff ready and be ready when it was my time and get through it all.”
Round 3 Top 5
- Zane Kilgus — 60.4
- Taylor Santos — 63.2
- Seth Hall — 65.1
- Brushton Minton — 69.5
- Paul David Tierney — 73.9
Among the fastest individual runs of the round were Seth Hall’s 6.4-second heading run, Dylan Hancock’s 13.3-second tie-down roping, Brushton Minton’s 6.8-second heeling, Will Lummus’ 5.3-second steer wrestling, and Minton’s 17.5-second steer roping, which tied for the fastest trip.
“I knew I had a good steer in the head and the steer was good in the heeling,” Kilgus said. “I really didn’t love the bulldogging steer, but I knew if I could get ahead of him I could get him tipped over.”
Late Entry Still Paying Off
Kilgus’ performance comes just days after learning he would compete in Guthrie.
The 24-year-old was an alternate before getting the call Wednesday morning that he would be in the 25-man field.
Instead of weeks of preparation, Kilgus squeezed in a quick practice session the day before heading to Oklahoma.
“I headed two on that horse I brought up here and healed four or five and ran a few bulldogging steers on the ground and tied a few,” Kilgus said. “Then I went and ran some on the tripping horse and came up here and tried to get ready.”
The quick turnaround might have helped more than it hurt.
“I wasn’t all tore up and beat up from practicing for two or three weeks,” he said. “I was just ready to get at it.”
Kilgus is riding a 10-year-old horse he and his dad started as a young horse and later purchased from the owner. The horse is pulling double duty during the event in both tie-down roping and heeling.
Santos Maintains Overall Lead
Through three rounds, Taylor Santos continues to lead the 25-man ironman race with a cumulative 201.9 seconds, holding a sizable advantage heading into Saturday’s final two rounds.
Brushton Minton sits second with 232.7, followed by Seth Hall at 245.9 and Ketch Kelton with 250.5.
Kilgus rounds out the top five with 281.2, just ahead of Wesley Thorp at 282.7.
Overall Standings After Round 3 (Top 10)
- Taylor Santos — 201.9
- Brushton Minton — 232.7
- Seth Hall — 245.9
- Ketch Kelton — 250.5
- Zane Kilgus — 281.2
- Wesley Thorp — 282.7
- Coleman Proctor — 290.4
- Paul David Tierney — 295.0
- Dylan Hancock — 314.4
- Clayton Hass — 316.5
Full Results of the 2026 Cinch Timed Event Championship
Two rounds remain Saturday at the Lazy E Arena, where the field will again compete in all five events per round.
For Kilgus, the plan heading into the final day is the same one that worked Friday night.
“I’m just trying to stay blank-minded,” he said. “One event, then the next one.”
