BROWN takes bull riding lead at Frontier Days

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) _ A bull ride is generally guaranteed to be a wild one, but Zack Brown suspected he was in for something special Wednesday. <br><br>The signs in the chute proved on the mark: The Yorba

Thursday, July 26th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) _ A bull ride is generally guaranteed to be a wild one, but Zack Brown suspected he was in for something special Wednesday.

The signs in the chute proved on the mark: The Yorba Linda, Calif., cowboy scored a 91 to lead the second go and tie for fifth overall at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo.

``He was throwing his head back, jumping around, trying to hook the people off the sides of the chute,'' Brown recalled. ``A high-spirited bull usually means they're going to do pretty good out there.

``You never know, though,'' he said. ``The ones that stand still in the box sometimes really fake you out.''

It was the best score of his career. Three others _ Jason McClain, of Kowa, Colo.; Jed Moore, of Cheyenne; and Bryan Richardson, of Dallas _ each scored 85, but no one came close to Brown.

Brown's earlier score this week was a 61. With a combined 152, he was suddenly within range of the overall leaders: McClain, with 163; Come Bouvier, of Empress, Alberta, with 159; and Blue Stone, of Ogden, Utah, who had 153.

Brown was tied overall with Jason Hambry, of Livermore, Calif.

In other action, Pete Hawkins, of Weatherford, Texas, moved up to third overall in bareback riding. His winning score of 80 on Wednesday gave him a total of 154.

Lan Lajenesse kept on top overall, though. After scoring an 84 on Tuesday, the rider from Morgan, Utah, kept a point away overall from Kelly Wardell, of Bellevue, Idaho.

In steer wrestling, Sam Koenig, of Cross Plains, Texas, retained the second-go lead of 8.9 seconds. He was in second overall with a time of 18.4. Brian Baurle, of Kyle, Texas, led overall with combined times of 17.7. Baurle took sixth Wednesday with a 10.4.

Denny Hay, of Mayerthorpe, Alberta, became the clear saddle bronc leader by finishing third Wednesday with a 78 and gaining a combined score of 159. Dan Black, of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, was second overall with 140.