Great day for a rough ride

Rodeo fans from Mineral County and beyond packed into the Mineral County Fairgrounds Saturday and Sunday for an evening of roping, riding and wrestling at the annual Mineral County Fair Rodeo.

The rodeo started off at 8 p.m. each night and fans packed into an 85-percent-capacity stadium Friday night and a sold-out stadium Saturday night.

All of the proceeds raised from the rodeo went to support the Lions Club, which arranged and organized the event.

Rodeo organizer Guy Gould said that he was impressed with the turnout, even with the high gas prices and competing rodeos.

He said that there was an open rodeo in Ronan that took place on the same nights and many cowboys and cowgirls competed in both events and switched evenings.

This year the rodeo had a new stock contractor and Gould said that he was very impressed with the livestock provided by Red Eye Rodeo.

“This is our first year with them and they did a good job,” Gould said.

The overall high-money winner of the rodeo was Donnie Benson from Ronan and the Cowgirl Award went to Tracy Bolich from Belgrade.

In the bareback riding competition Andy Bolich from Belgrade and Stephan Brown from Lewiston tied for first and second place with scores of 77. Jordan Hutchinson from Elko in British Columbia took second with a score of 71 and Quinten McCauley from Boulder, took third with a score of 70.

In the saddled bucking bronco competition B.J. Schall from Ronan took first place with a score of 74, Kalyn Beasley from Bozeman took second with a score of 72 and Boe Reeverts from Browning took third with a score of 63.

In the bull riding competition Raymond Daniel from Cody, Wyo. took first with a score of 74 and Ryan Parsons from Boulder, took second with a score of 72.

Jeremy Marn from Belt won the steer wrestling with a time of 8.5 seconds. Jon Hoovestal from Helena took second with 12.3 seconds and Josh Harris of Ronan took third with 14.7 second.

In the calf roping competition Benson took first with a time of 9.4 seconds. Herb Harris of Ronan took second with a time of 9.6 seconds, Buck Rodolph from Lolo took third with a time of 9.9 seconds, Kody Lahaye took fourth with a time of 10.7 seconds and Same Levine of Wolf Creek took fifth with 11 seconds flat.

In the team roping event, Chance Bernall from Dillon and Benson with a time of 6.4 seconds. Tammy Jo and Rich Carpenter from Kalispell took second with a time of 7.7 seconds, Willy Burns and Jeff Robertson of Pray took third with a time of 9.3 seconds and Rudolph and Wes Jones of Lolo took fourth with 14.5 seconds.

In lady barrels Kaela Murphy from Helena took first with a time of 15.22 seconds, Gayleen Malone from Pray took second with a time of 15.48 seconds, Tracey Bolich of Belgrade and Torie Briese from Helena tied for third and fourth with a time of 15.51, Deena Moeykens from Three Forks took fifth with a time of 15.56 and Mandy Bishop of Manhattan took sixth with a time of 15.59.

In the lady breakaway competition Cee Cee Tryan of Helena took first with a time of 2.4 seconds, Cally Goyins of Helena took second with a time of 2.5 seconds, Bolich and Crissie Hansen of Dell took third and fourth with a time of 2.9 seconds, Cadee Tew of Harlowton took fifth with a time of 3.2 seconds and Bishop and Arena de la Cruz of Augusta tied for sixth and seventh place with a time of 3.3 seconds.

In the junior barrels competition Celie Salmond of Choteau took first with a time of 15.65, Amanda Luhman of Hamilton took second with 16.07, Lexi Bagnell of Polson took third with a time of 16.09 and Charley Yeager of Choteau took fourth with a time of 16.15.

In the junior breakaway competition Casey Tew from Belgrade took first with a time of 3 seconds flat, Quin McQueary from Belgrade took second with a time of 3.8 seconds, Lane Lahaye from Wilsall took third with a time of 12.9 seconds and Quade McQueary took fourth with a time of 15.3 seconds.