Dan McCready locks down national title
A Broadwood cowboy has continued the Far North’s proud and successful tradition in national rodeo competition by picking up a title at the finale of the NZRCA season in Christchurch earlier this month.
Dan McCready came from well down the ladder to take out the the steer wrestling section at the Te Mania Angus New Zealand National Finals Rodeo on Saturday, March 9.
A report from the event noted the Broadwood cowboy went into the final ranked fifth overall, $1053.55 cents behind the leader but with plenty of prize money on offer to make up the gap if everything went right on the day.
In one of several battles which went right down to the wire on a day where eight national titles were up for grabs, McCready delivered a brilliant performance by winning both go-rounds to leapfrog the other contenders and claim the championship.
This included winning the first and second rounds in 7.91 seconds and 7.615s respectively and top the average with a time of 7.76s while being the only cowboy to get both heads done in the final.
McCready competes in saddle bronc and steer wrestling each season which includes making regular and frequent jaunts to events in the South Island. He also made the top eight for saddle bronc at the nationals.
A member of both the Oruru Valley and Far North rodeo clubs, McCready tipped his stetson to all the sponsors who helped make rodeo happen in New Zealand.
He also made special mention of Molly, the horse he steer wrestles off.
Owned by Merv Church, Molly also picked up a couple of titles at the NZRCA finals, as steer wrestling Horse of the Year over both the season and at the national champs.
McCready’s Far North stablemate Klay Lanigan also travelled to Christchurch for the national finals where he competed in ropeand-tie, steer wrestling and teamroping.
■ The Te Mania Angus National Finals Rodeo was hosted by the Canterbury Rodeo Club at the Mandeville Sports Grounds near Rangiora on Saturday, March 9.
It represented the culmination of the NZRCA circuit for 2018/19 where national champions were crowned in eight events, along with the best all-round champion with the highest standing overall.
The competition for best allround cowboy was intense and the frontrunner changed twice during the day before roping specialist, Patrick McCarthy of Wanaka, emerged victorious in a tight tussle over defending champion, Corey Church of Rotorua.