CNFR: Bingham wins Shane Drury Scholarship

By Jim Cnockaert, Special to the Journal | Saturday, June 21, 2008

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CASPER, Wyo. — When friends told Shane Drury in 2002 that they wanted to create a scholarship in his honor, his first reaction was one of bemusement.

“Isn’t that something you do after someone’s dead?” he asked.

But his father, Paul, could see how the gesture touched his son.

“There’s no question that it meant a lot to him,” Paul said. “It was a way to keep his legacy going.”

That legacy is emblemized by the wristband Shane’s older brother, Jesse, wears in his memory. The inscription is: “Nuthin’ But Try.” It aptly describes how Shane approached his bull riding and how he later battled the cancer that claimed his life in 2006.

On Friday night during the final qualifying performance of the College National Finals Rodeo at the Events Center Paul and Jesse presented the third Shane Drury Scholarship. The $2,500 check is presented annually to a rodeo collegian who has overcome adversity. The 2008 recipient is Utah Valley State’s Lana Bingham.

“The scholarship is an appropriate way to honor Shane,” Jesse said. “He was always trying to help someone else. He was always generous and caring. This scholarship helps someone. That’s what Shane would have done.”

Shane, a 1997 Rapid City Central High graduate, competed as a bull rider for one year at South Dakota State, where he reached the short round of the CNFR. He finished his college career at Southwest Oklahoma State, graduating in 2001 with a degree in marketing.

He qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2000, and was ranked second heading to Las Vegas. But he’d broken his wrist and his jaw during the final rodeo of the season, and was not in great shape for the NFR. He eventually wound up 10th. He later set an arena record in Reno, Nev., with a 95-point ride on Riverdance.

Shane was first diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2002. He’d been complaining of pain in his back, but he was a bull rider and that kind of pain comes with the territory.

“But he told me later that he suspected something was wrong,” Paul said. “He said it just never felt right.”

Shane was in such great shape that he was able to weather surgery that removed four ribs and part of his lung and the chemotherapy that followed. Surgeons put in a Gore-Tex patch that replaced the missing ribs, and he was able to resume his bull riding.

For a time, he was declared free of cancer, but in 2006 it was back and it had spread throughout his body. This time, there would be no escaping it.

The scholarship is funded almost exclusively by private tax-deductible donations, which can be made to the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association in Walla Walla, Wash. Susan Kanode, public relations coordinator for the CNFR, said the fund has enough money in it to last for 10 years. The goal, she said, is to have the fund be self-sustaining and have it reach a point where $500 scholarships are presented to a deserving cowboy or cowgirl in each of the NIRA’s 11 regions.

Shane was able to present the first scholarship that bears his name at the 2006 CNFR to Montana State junior Jyme Peterson, an equine science major who now works as an assistant coach with the Bobcats rodeo program. Peterson underwent two knee surgeries that sidelined her for nearly half of her college career. Shane died the following October.

“It was a very moving presentation and a very humbling experience for me,” Peterson said. “It made realize that two torn knee ligaments are not that big a deal. He was happy and smiling. You would never have known anything was wrong.”

The 2007 award was presented to Weber State junior Texie Rose, who competed at the CNFR in goat tying just weeks after having a second surgery for ovarian cancer. She currently is cancer free and working to complete her degree in elementary education.

Bingham was one of eight student-athletes who applied for this 2008 award. Her father was killed in an automobile accident when she was 12 years old. She moved to Tennessee for a while after her mother remarried, but the family return to Utah when Bingham was in high school.

She says she continues to be inspired by her father’s memory, both in terms of her rodeo accomplishments and academic achievements. She will graduate next spring with degrees in elementary and pre-elementary education, and she plans to pursue a master’s in special education. She serves as the student director for the Rocky Mountain Region.

“I was in Casper when Shane presented the first scholarship,” Bingham recalled in her application letter. “My heart grew for him, and I could not fight back the tears. I don’t think there was a dry eye in the audience. He has touched me in so many ways. I can’t imagine going through what he did, but I know he was a fighter. He is an inspiration to me.

“Shane is making it possible for people like me to continue their education and let legacies live on.”

Which, his father and brother say, would make please Shane greatly.

“I look forward to this presentation every year,” Paul said. “I will never miss one.”

For more information on Shane Drury, see www.shanedrury.net.

 

 

Floyd and Johnson representing S.D. well

 

CASPER, Wyo. — Thanks to two South Dakota cowboys, the Gillette College team is making a great first impression at the College National Finals Rodeo.

Competing for the first-year team, Ludlow freshman Chason Floyd and Reva senior Brad Johnson both made the short go in the steer wrestling.

“To get two in, that sure feels great,” Johnson said.

Floyd made his final qualifying run Friday night, and he delivered a 4.2-second run that put him third in the aggregate heading into Saturday’s championship finals. With a pair of 4.3-second runs earlier in the week, Floyd sits at 12.8.

“It’s been really exciting,” Floyd said. “It’s been a great experience for a freshman.”

Johnson, who made his last qualifying run on Wednesday, is seventh in the aggregate in 13.6 seconds. Northwest Oklahoma State’s Kody Woodward leads in 12.1 seconds.

Also making the finals in the bulldogging is South Dakota State’s Tait Kvistad. He finished in the 12th and final qualifying spot in 15.2 seconds.

Floyd has said all week that he’s been trying to treat the CNFR as just another rodeo, but he admitted that it might be tough to do heading into the short go.

“I know I will get butterflies,” he said. “I just have to stick to business. You can’t psych yourself out. You’ve just got to do your job. Anyone here can beat you. That sure keeps you on your feet.”

Wyoming’s Nikki Steffes, of Vale, is no stranger when it comes to the short go. Last year, she was the rodeo’s top all-around cowgirl, and she helped the Cowgirls win the national title.

She’s in a position this year to win the goat tying. After clocking 6.9 seconds on her last run on Friday, she leads the event with a combined time of 20.7 seconds. She was 6.7 and 7.1 on her first two goats. Steffes also will run in the barrel racing. She is ninth in the aggregate in that event.

“I guess I didn’t know what I needed tonight, but at this stage, you can’t be safe,” Steffes said of the goat tying. “I’m glad to be in this position again heading into tomorrow night. I’m just glad it worked out.”

After last year’s success, Steffes said she tried to be realistic about her chances to duplicate it. To be in similar shape this year, she said, is an amazing feeling, especially with the Wyoming women trying to challenge for a title. Wyoming is seventh in the team standings, nearly 200 points behind Nevada-Las Vegas.

“It all comes down to tomorrow night, and we have a great opportunity,” she said. “Being in this position before, I expect more of myself than anyone else does. I’m excited to come back tomorrow night in two events. I might take a few risks and try to win it.”

National American’s Jena Lien had a shot Friday night to come back in the barrel racing, but she couldn’t pull it off. Her 14.61-second run left her 15th in the aggregate.

NAU’s Weston Garrett had no chance to make the short go because of an earlier no score, but he came out hard looking to win the third go-round. For six seconds, he had it going on Triple V Rodeo’s Good Shepard. He then went airborne and hit the ground so hard that he had to be assisted from the arena floor by medical personnel.

NAU’s Adam Mueller did not score in his final tie down roping run. He’s got a time once in three tries this week.

Here’s who else will be back in tonight’s short go:

South Dakota State senior Jacque Murray is fourth in the breakaway roping. She was 9.6 on three head. West Alabama’s Natasha Parker leads in 9.0 seconds. NAU’s Jolene Nordick will not compete. She finished 16th in the aggregate.

Black Hills State’s Chuck Schmidt is first in the saddle bronc. He’s 227 points on three. NAU’s Tyler Manke is ninth in the same event, scoring 205 on three.