Superior rodeo packs the grandstands
Superior rodeo queen Lanie Crabb circles the arena in Superior during opening ceremonies at this year Lions Club Rodeo this past weekend. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
A young rider holds on during a junior bareback riding event at this year's Superior Lions Club Rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Rookie bareback bronc rider Hayden Reed of Hall, MT, gets ready to ride during this past weekend's Superior Rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
A competitor in the tie down roping event at this year's Superior Lion's Club rodeo watches his lasso head for a sprinting calf. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
A cowboy misses the mark trying to rope a calf during the tie-down roping event in Superior this past weekend. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Great Falls bareback bronc rider Wyatt Warneke tapes up in preparation for his ride Friday night during the Superior Lions Club rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
A cowboy gets the steer by the horns during steer wrestling competition at the Lions Club rodeo in Superior this past weekend. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
It was by summer rodeo standards a grand time.
A young rider holds on during a junior bareback riding event at this year's Superior Lions Club Rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Rookie bareback bronc rider Hayden Reed of Hall, MT, gets ready to ride during this past weekend's Superior Rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Despite hotter than average temperatures and a moderate layer of wildfire smoke, the Superior Lions Club Rodeo played to two nights of near-capacity seats this past weekend.
And it featured a second-place finish by a pair of area brothers, Jack and Nick McAllister, in the team roping event, much to the delight of the energetic crowd.
The McAllister brothers roped and tied their calf in 8.2 seconds, good for a runner-up payday of $355 each. The event was won by a duo from Wolf Creek who recorded a rapid time of 5.9 seconds, with each of them taking home $473 for their efforts.
The two-day run, which entertained fans for two hours each during the Friday and Saturday shows, featured several top riders and ropers from the Northern Rodeo Association and the Montana Rodeo Cowboys Association.
Hometown saddle bronc rider Hunter Haskins did not compete in the event. NRA season standings show Haskins in second place in the saddle bronc standings this season with $4,266 dollars in winnings. Saddle bronc leader Jason Coldough of Libby is less than $200 ahead of Haskins, last year’s saddle bronc season champion.
Jack McAllister was second in last year’s tie-down roping standings.
This year’s Superior bull riding event was won by Polson’s Caden Fitzpatrick who posted a 78. Fitzpatrick currently has a big lead in the season standings among 2024 NRA riders. Fitzpatrick’s win in Superior was good for $743.
Rodeo stock for this year’s event was provided by Red Eye Rodeo, which also supplied last year’s animals. The Superior event also featured crowd favorite rodeo clown, or bullfighter as they prefer to be called, Beau Harrell.
This year’s rodeo queen was Lanie Crabb, who graduated from Superior High this past June and has been active in area rodeo for several years. Crabb was given the honor of riding around the arena during the National Anthem as part of the always patriotic rodeo tradition.
Next up for many of the riders and ropers at the Superior event is the Madison County rodeo next weekend in Twin Bridges August 15-16. Rodeos are also scheduled in Darby and Deer Lodge, both on August 16-17.
The 2024 NRA season concludes this year with the NRA Finals October 24-26 in Kalispell.
A competitor in the tie down roping event at this year's Superior Lion's Club rodeo watches his lasso head for a sprinting calf. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
A cowboy misses the mark trying to rope a calf during the tie-down roping event in Superior this past weekend. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
Great Falls bareback bronc rider Wyatt Warneke tapes up in preparation for his ride Friday night during the Superior Lions Club rodeo. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)
A cowboy gets the steer by the horns during steer wrestling competition at the Lions Club rodeo in Superior this past weekend. (Chuck Bandel/VP-MI)