Team roping cousins Chase Tryan of Helena and Brady Tryan of Huntley tied for first place at the Jefferson County NRA Rodeo, with a time of 5.3 seconds.

The Tryans split the winners share with Sid Sporer of Cody, Wyo. and Augusta's Matt Robertson. Each cowboy received $522 apiece for their efforts.

The Tryans performed in Boulder on Saturday, and their time held up through the second go-round on Sunday. Next, they loaded up their horses and drove the 285 miles to Couer D'Alene, Idaho, where they competed in a rodeo on Sunday. Unfortunately they didn't do as well there, posting a "no time."

But hey, that's the life of a cowboy.

Brady is the header, and Chase is the heeler. They are currently ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, in the NRA standings. Chase is an old pro at 19, having entered his first team roping contest when he was just 10 years old.

He was unable to compete last year, after sustaining a serious head injury in a car wreck.

"But I'm OK now," said Chase.

He said that his all-time record in the team roping is a swift 4.2 seconds.

East Helena cowboy James Warfield had a similar situation, traveling the 289 miles from a rodeo in Eureka on Saturday, to compete in the bull riding in Boulder on Sunday.

He had a no time in the Jefferson event, lasting about three seconds on a 2,000 pound bull called "Peanut."

"I've been dying to get on him, and I don't know what happened, but Peanut made peanut butter out of me," said Warfield, who came into this weekend as the No. 1-rated bull rider in the NRA.

Warfield ventured up to the northwest corner of state with his traveling partner Luke Knaff of Winston to compete in Eureka's The Bull Thing Invitational.

"It's a $20,000-added event," explained Warfield, who was the 2005 Eureka invite champ. "I had a ride of 70, but it takes more than that up there to cash in."

Back in the day while competing in the PRCA, the East Helena cowboy was ranked in the top 20 in the world several times.

Warfield reported his age as "30-something," and said that he has no intention of quitting anytime soon. "I just love the sport, I'd rather ride bulls than (do) anything (else). It's the only thing I'm good at," he laughed.

Boulder's own Ryan Parsons captured the Jefferson Rodeo bull riding title. His Saturday score of 79 held up for the crown. He came into the weekend ranked No. 2 behind Warfield.

Other area top finishers were East Helena's Ryan O'Master, second in the bull riding; Deziah Ogle of Canyon Creek, second in the barrel race; Ben Wrzesinski of Boulder, second in the bareback; Helena's Steve Blixt, third in the steer wrestling; Cee Cee Tryan (Chase's sister), tied for third in the breakaway roping; Allie Novotny of Helena, third in the junior barrels; Wolf Creek's Sam Levine, fourth in the calf roping; and Torie Briese of Helena, tied for fifth in the barrels.

"The ground was a little slick out there, I got past the first barrel too far and it cost me," Briese explained. The 19-year old Capital City cowgirl, who finished last year rated fourth in the NRA, said that she's been racing her horse, "Muffin," for six years now.

Reporter Curt Synness: 449-2150 or curt52s@bresnan.net