Great performances at Great Northern Rodeo

Despite being held on different nights than in previous years, the Great Northern Ram Rodeo delivered the same excitement inside the arena at the Great Northern Fairgrounds, as fans packed the grandstands to watch some of the most exciting rodeo stars in Montana compete.

The Great Northern Ram Rodeo lasted for two days, beginning Thursday before wrapping up Friday night with the memorable cow milking competition. The rodeo featured some of the top talent from both the Northern Rodeo Association and the national Indian rodeo association tours.

All the classic rodeo events were featured at the rodeo as the contestants competed for both prize money and belts. And in terms of prize money, no one walked away with more of it than Payton Fitzpatrick of Polson, who ended the rodeo in exciting fashion with 85 points in bull riding after no other rider was able to register a legal ride. The win earned Fitzpatrick $2,044.50.

Another big prize went to Ben Ayre of Glendive, who won just over a thousand dollars with a first-place finish in the calf roping competition with a time of 9.6. The other competitors who cleared a thousand dollars in prize money included Shawn Bessette and Sid Sporer of Cody, Wyoming, who won the team roping event, Tammy Jo Carpenter of Kalispell, who won the ladies breakaway roping and Milee Dailey of Emigrant, who won the barrel racing with a time of 17.46.

Other winners included Dakota Munns of Dillon, who won the saddle bronc riding with a score of 82 to take home a prize of $982.77. John Salois of Browning scored 77 points in bareback riding to take home the first-place prize of 767.04, while Ross Mosher of Augusta posted a time of 3.9 in steer wrestling to win the event and take home $846.94.

In the junior ranks, the stars of the day were Alexis McDonald of Gardner, who won the junior barrel racing with a time of 17.48 to take home winnings of $220.80 and Luke Murphy of Helena, who won $220.80 for winning the junior breakaway roping with a just of 3.3.

There were also a number of local participants that performed well at the rodeo. The top local finisher was the team of Doug Kallenberger, who was also the head coach of the Montana State University-Northern Rodeo team, and Jerome Bell of Harlem, which took second place in team roping. Scot Strauser of Havre also teamed with John Graham of Glasgow to finish third in team roping, while the team of Clayton Hart and Troy Henderson , each from Box Elder, finished fifth in team roping.

Casey Delaney of Havre, who came into the weekend as the top-ranked steer wrestler on the NRA circuit, put together another solid performance with a fourth-place showing and a time of 6.0. Weston Brown of Big Sandy also finished fourth in calf roping and Emily Kallenberger finished seventh in the ladies barrel racing.

Great Northern Ram Rodeo

Bull Riding - 1. Payton Fitzpatrick, Polson, 85.

Saddle Bronc - 1. Dakota Munns, Dillon, 82; 2. Tyler Friend, Driggs, 75; 3. Andrew Evjene, 74; 4. Phillip Shields, Dillon, 72; 5. Chase Brooks, Anaconda, 70.

Bareback - John Salois, Browning, 77; 2. Sylan LaCross, Baker, 76; 3. Blade Elliot, Centerville, 75; 4. Charlie Mack, Big Timber, 72; Tucker Zingg, Glendive, 71.

Steer Wrestling - Ross Mosher, Augusta, 3.9; Simon Quackenbush, Fort Benton, 4.5; Jabe Anderson, Dillon, 6.0; 4. Casey Delaney, Havre, 6.0; 5. Michael Gollaher, Cascade, 6.2;

Calf Roping - 1. Ben Ayre, Glendive, 9.6; 2. Orry Fruit, Fort Benton, 10.3; 3. Royce Tamcke, Dillon, 10.6; 4. Weston Brown, Big Sandy, 10.8; 5. Brandon Krueger, Zortman, 11.2.

Team Roping - 1. Shawn Besette/Sid Sporer, 5.1; 2. Doug Kallenberger/Jerome Bell, 6.5; 3. Scot Strauser/John Graham, 6.7; 4. Delon Parker/Kory Mytty, 6.7; 5. Cayton Hart/Troy Henderson, 6.8.

Ladies Barrel Racing - 1. Milee Dailey, Emigrant, 17.46; 2. Heather Knerr, Grass Range, 17.49; 3. Mary Hamilton, Manhattan, 17.62; 4. Kati Macissac, Two Dot, 17.65; 5. Kaela Murphy, Belgrade.

Lady Breakaway - 1. Tammy Jo Carpenter, Kalispell, 2.7; 2. Kelsey Hanson, Helena, 2.8; 3. Callie Otoupalik, Arlee, 3.1; 4. Amber Crowley, Poplar, 3.4; 5. Ellie Ranken, Forsyth, 3.4;

Junior Barrels - 1. Alexis Mcdonald, Gardiner, 17.48; 2. Tayla Moeykens, Three Forks, 17.64; 3. Shia McDonald, Gardiner, 17.91; 4. Fallon Parker, Bozeman, 18.18.

Junior Breakaway - 1. Luke Murphy, Helena, 3.3; 2. Dillon Johnson, Belt, 4,7; 3. Mikayl Witter, Helena, 5.2; 4. Caleb Meeks, Geraldine, 6.9.