Alires finds his victory in Eugene.

Byline: CHRIS HANSEN The Register-Guard

Danny Alires figured his day couldn't get any worse, but even he didn't figure it would end as well as it did.

After two forgettable performances at two different rodeos on Thursday, Alires capped his busy Independence Day schedule with a win in the saddle bronc competition at the Eugene Pro Rodeo with a score of 77.

The 10th annual event drew a first-day crowd of nearly 6,000. It will resume at 7:30 tonight.

"I had a rough day today so this feels pretty good," said Alires, 27, ranked 11th in the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association's Columbia River Circuit.

Alires was bucked off his horse at the Molalla Buckaroo on Thursday morning, missed his ride at the St. Paul rodeo in the afternoon and came to Eugene wanting to redeem his day.

"Those were two rodeos that a guy really counts on, especially in our circut," Alires said. "Eugene is probably the third biggest of those, but man was I really counting on something here."

It was just luck of the draw that brought Alires to Eugene for the third time in four years instead of heading to a rodeo in Vale that he was also registered to compete in.

It was a decision he made four days ago when he was assigned to ride Wide Country in Eugene, a respected bucking horse that has performed numerous times at the National Finals Rodeo. It was a horse Alires figured he could make some money on if he rode well.

"I've never ridden him but some of the guys I travel with have and said I could leave here winning on him, so it sure feels good to be able to do it," said Alires, who is from Moxee, Wash.

It was an entirely different story for Justin Mason, an unranked bull rider who is taking a more casual approach to the slew of professional rodeos taking place across the United States and Canada this week and next.

Mason, 26, competed in Molson, Calif., on Wednesday and will be in Molalla today. Not the flurry of rodeos that Alires and others will participate in, yet he has been having as much success.

The Hollister, Calif., resident won the bull riding competition with a score of 76, and was one of only three bull riders out of a field of 18 to last the required eight seconds on his bull.

"I hadn't been riding too good all year, but I got one rode (Wednesday night) so I was confident," said Mason, who was ranked in the PRCA top 10 in 1997. "The bull (Thursday night) was kind of testy and he bucked pretty good I thought, but I was able to get by him."

The cowgirls provided the most compelling competition of the night's seven events, as Ruth Haislip recorded a time of 17.37 seconds to win the barrel racing competition.

Her time was the third fastest ever recorded at the Eugene Pro Rodeo. It beat the time of 17.37 set two riders earlier by Patty Childers.

In the morning's slack performance, Paul Mullins and Clayton Grant recorded a time of 5.8 seconds to lead the team roping competition. Troy Murry's and Joseph Shawnego's time of 5.9 seconds was good enough for second place.

Whether those times were the best of the day remained to be seen Thursday, as another slack performance followed the fireworks show that didn't begin until nearly 11 p.m.

In other slack performances, Clint Cooper held the lead in the calf roping competition with a time of 10.4 seconds, while Clay Mindermann led the steer wrestling competition with a time of 4.9 seconds.