Lindsay Sears won the seventh round of barrel racing with a 13.71-second run Wednesday night at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo to take the lead in the world standings.

Sears, the defending world champion from Nanton, Alberta, has won an event-best $80,813 to push her season total to $222,031. Brittany Pozzi of Victoria, Texas, the 2007 world champion who didn't place among the top six with a time of 19.07, dropped to second place with $210,324.

Sears, who has placed among the top six in all seven rounds, also is first in the aggregate score race with a time of 97.11 over seven rounds.

"I have never had a plan for the average," Sears said. "I always figure it will take care of itself if you do well taking each run at a time. The average does play a major role in the end, but we have to go at it one run at a time, and that is what I concentrate on."

In steer wrestling, two-time world champion Luke Branquinho of Los Alamos, Calif., won his second consecutive round, finishing in 3.8 seconds, to take over the world standings lead with $182,493, the aggregate score top spot with a time of 28.2 over seven rounds and the NFR earnings lead with $69,940.

"I'm going to go at these last three rounds one at a time, like they're three one-headers, and knowing that you've got to win money every round to have a chance at a world championship," Branquinho said. "That's how I am going to look at it; just go win as much as I can each go-round."

Lee Graves of Calgary, Alberta, who led in the aggregate score, NFR earnings and world standings races after six rounds, fell to second in world earnings with $179,340, in NFR earnings with $58,767 and in the aggregate with a time of 34.1.

Graves, who didn't place with a time of 11.6, was followed in the world standings by third-place Jake Rinehart of Highmore, S.D., with $148,316, and fourth-place Curtis Cassidy of Donalda, Alberta, with $125,792.

In bareback riding, world standings leader Clint Cannon of Waller, Texas, ended a five-round streak of not finishing in the top six and not collecting a paycheck when he tied for first with D.V. Fennell of Neosho, Mo. with a score of 84.5 on Mad Money. Fennell, a 36-year-old NFR rookie, rode Brother.

Cannon, who set a PRCA record in 2009 for most regular-season money won in any event with $233,504, increased his world standings total to $251,243. Bobby Mote of Culver, Ore., was second with $216,643, including an NFR best $46,304.

Mote, sixth with an 82 on RD Mercer, had the aggregate score lead with 587.5 points on seven rides compared to second-place Kaycee Field and Jason Havens with 579 points each on seven rides.