The slugfest continued to unravel Friday night inside the Legendary Lazy E Arena as Zane Kilgus (Stephenville, Texas) captured the Round Three victory while Taylor Santos (Creston, California) maintained control of the overall average at the 2026 Cinch Timed Event Championship.
All event results are available here.
Kilgus, who entered the field as a last-second alternate less than 24 hours before the competition began, delivered the fastest performance of the third go-round, completing the five disciplines in 60.4 seconds. His run included an 8.8-second heading, 13.0 seconds in tie-down roping, 8.7 seconds in heeling, 10.7 seconds in steer wrestling and 19.2 seconds in steer roping.
The strong performance moved Kilgus up the leaderboard with a three-round total of 281.2 seconds, for a fifth-place position as the Ironman race continues to take shape heading into the final two rounds of competition.
While Kilgus topped the round, Taylor Santos continued to show consistency to maintain his hold on the overall average to a 30.8-second lead. Santos turned in a 63.2-second run in Round Three, highlighted by a 7.4-second heading, 18.0-second tie-down roping, 7.9-second heeling, 12.4-second steer wrestling and 17.5-second steer roping.
Those five runs pushed Santos’ three-round aggregate to 201.9 seconds, keeping the California cowboy securely atop the standings for the second round in a row as the race for the Cinch Timed Event Championship title and $100,000 payday continues.
Trailing Santos in the overall average race is Brushton Minton of Witter Springs, California, who sits second with a three-round total of 232.7 seconds. Seth Hall of Albuquerque, New Mexico holds third at 245.9 seconds, followed by Ketch Kelton of Mayer, Arizona in fourth with 250.5 seconds. Dylan Hancock of San Angelo, Texas rounds out the top five with 314.4 seconds as the field continues to chase Santos’ commanding lead heading into the next round of competition.
The Junior Ironman competition also continued Friday, where Leo Loucks (Pittsburg, Illinois) delivered the fastest performance of the round. Loucks completed the four disciplines in a combined 58.2 seconds to take the round win and to stay in overall aggregate lead with a two-round total of 108.0 seconds.
James Mann of Tehachapi, California, sits second in the aggregate with 148.9 seconds, followed by Wyatt Williams of Penrose, Colorado, with 165.9 seconds as the Junior Ironman competitors continue their push toward the championship.
All event results are available here.
Competition resumes Saturday afternoon with Round Four, where another cut of five athletes will be made before the remaining 15 athletes return for the Championship Round to determine the 2026 Cinch Timed Event Championship winner.
