Jess Tierney had just tripped his last steer of the Cinch Timed Event Championship in 16.4 seconds, and he watched as both Clay Smith and Josh Peek, who were second and first going into the final event of the fifth round of weekend, struggled. Tears welled up in the 35-year-old South Dakotans eyes as he sat on his steer roping horse underneath the grandstands, and whooping and hollering from his friends and family could be heard across the Lazy E Arena. JoJo LeMond and Jess’ wife, Teresa, were the first to get to him, with Jess crying into Teresa’s shoulders. Jess’ father, Timed Event legend Paul, stood behind him fighting back the tears, too.

Tierney is now the third in his immediate family to win a Timed Event title in the Lazy E Arena, rounding out the dynasty Paul Tierney spent the last three decades building with his sons in their practice pen. Jess became only the 13th man to win a Timed Event title in its 32-year history at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla., joining brother Paul David with two titles and father Paul with four. 

“It just feels great to join my family,” Tierney, who finished seventh at the Timed Event last year, said. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while. We work on this. We work on it every day. We do every event every day. Sometimes you get tired, but you keep doing it.”

The CINCH Timed Event Championship pits 20 of the best all-around hands in the industry against the clock and one another on 25 head of fresh cattle in heading, tie-down roping, heeling, steer wrestling and steer roping in the Lazy E’s massive red-dirt arena. Nearly every year, it comes down to the final round on Sunday with multiple cowboys in contention for the title. Paul David came into the final round in the lead, but a slip-up in the bull dogging dropped him to fifth and put Colorado’s Josh Peek in the driver’s seat heading into the steer roping–the final event of the day.

But the steer roping didn’t go Peek’s way, and Smith had trouble, too. Tierney, who steer ropes for a living, made a smooth 16.4 second run and got to watch as the $100,000 got closer and closer to his pocket as the seconds ticked by for Peek and Smith. 

“I thought if I could tie that steer in 16 or 17, somewhere around there, it could put a little pressure on the top,” Tierney said. “I just tried to minimize mistakes today. In the heading, we’ve drawn some steers that really run. When I was getting outrun there, I just decided to catch this steer and get our round started good. We were 10.8. I knew I had a great calf, got him roped got him up and got him tied. In the heeling, that’s one event I really had to work on. I wanted to make sure I got in time with that steer and got him caught. I knew I had a great bull dogging steer. I thought I’d try to throw him out of the arena and catch up a little it.” 

The entire Tierney crew was there to support Paul David and Jess, and both brothers counted on the support. 

“They’re such a crew of energy,” Jess said. “Sometimes you’ll be thinking you’re out or you’re down and all of a sudden they come by screaming and hollering and you just get back up.”

Tierney cited winning the Cinch Timed Event as the third greatest thing that’s ever happened to him, following his acceptance of Jesus Christ as his Savior and his marriage to Teresa. 

“I want to thank the fans for showing up, and I want to thank the Lazy E for putting on such a great event. The greatest thing about the Timed Event is you get the greatest ropers showing up, and you never know what’s going to happen. All you have to do is to remember what you’re doing and do what you know to do.”

Tierney borrowed some top equine talent for the event, describing his horses as the difference maker this year. He rode his helper Jace Crabb’s heel horse, Roger Branch’s calf horse and Ken Ladd’s head horse, in addition to hazer Kody Woodward’s bull dogging horse and his own tripping horse. 

Fans voted Wishbone, ridden by Clay Smith in the heading, as top horse of the Cinch Timed Event Championship. 

Bo Yaussi of Udall, Kans., won the first-ever Jr. Ironman at the Lazy E Arena with a time of 152.2 seconds on 12 runs, worth $10,000. The Lazy E hosted the event in the mornings before the Cinch Timed Event kicked off, and hundreds of fans came out to see the 10 best all-around kids go head-to-head in the heading, heeling, calf roping and steer wrestling. JD Draper took home second in the average, worth $5,000, and his bull dogging horse, Chance, was voted top horse. 

CINCH TIMED EVENT CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

First round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 56.3 seconds, $3,000; 2. Clay Smith, 61.2, $2,000; 3. Shay Carroll, 63.7, $1,000.

Second round: 1. Trevor Brazile, 54.7 seconds, $3,000; 2. Paul David Tierney, 56.5, $2,000; 3. Josh Peek, 56.7, $1,000.

Third round: 1. Paul David Tierney, 53.0 seconds, $3,000; 2. Jess Tierney, 62.1, $2,000; 3. Trevor Brazile, 63.0, $1,000.

Fourth round: 1. Josh Peek, 49.6, $3,000; 2. Shay Carroll, 59.1, $2,000; 3. Paul David Tierney, 61.1, $1,000.

Fifth round: 1. Shank Edwards, 58.7 seconds, $3,000; 2. Jess Tierney, 59.9, $2,000; 3. Marcus Theriot, 60.0, $1,000.

Average: 1. Jess Tierney, 326.8 seconds, $100,000; 2. Clay Smith, 332.8, $25,000; 3. Trevor Brazile, 336.2, $15,000; 4. Josh Peek, 339.8, $7,500; 5. Paul David Tierney, 350.7, $5,000; 6. Jordan Ketscher, 363.7, $5,000; 7. Shay Carroll, 432.2, $4,500; 8. Shank Edwards, 481.4, $3,000.

Total money: 1. Jess Tierney, $104,000; 2. Clay Smith, $27,000; 3. Trevor Brazile, $22,000; 4. Josh Peek, $14,000; 5. Paul David Tierney, $13,500; 6. Shay Carroll, $6,000; 7. Marcus Theriot, $5,500; 8. Jordan Ketscher, $5,000; 9. Shank Edwards, $3,000

JR. IRONMAN RESULTS

First round: 1. Miles Neighbors, 44.7 seconds, $1,000.

Second round: Garrett Jacobs, 39.9 seconds, $1,000.

Third round: 1. Tanner Green, 38.9 seconds, $1,000.

Aggregate: 1. Bo Yaussi, 152.2 seconds, $10,000; 2. J.D. Draper, $5,000; 3. Wyatt Hansen, 205.7, $2,000.