Jess Tierney becomes third member of his family to win CINCH Timed Event title
GUTHRIE, Okla. – Jess Tierney closed out a wild and eventful final round of the 2017 CINCH Timed Event Championship to become the 13th winner of this storied competition.
More importantly, though, is that he became the third member of his family to claim this prestigious and elusive title, joining his four-time champion father, Paul, and his two-time titlist brother, Paul David.
“I couldn’t be happier for my brother,” Paul David said. “Now we all have a Timed Event buckle to wear.”
In all, the family owns seven of those gold buckles, a cherished piece of hardware that is the epitome of multi-talented cowboys. Paul won his first title in 1987, when Jess was just 5 years old. He added crowns in 1991, ’97 and ’00. It’s a family tradition they’d like maintain. With the winner earning $100,000, they have good reason
“This event is just the greatest event,” Jess said. “It could’ve paid 2 bucks, and I would’ve showed up. I just wanted to win this event. With them adding that kind of money, it’s just life-changing for us.”
When his dad won his first crown, the winner’s take was $40,000. When Paul David won his first title in 2014, it paid $50,000. While the financial incentive is greater, the call for the competitors is in the title: Timed Event Champion. Paul David won his second title a year ago and carried the lead into Sunday’s final go-round. In fact, he held the lead through the 23rd run of the championship, then saw it slip.
When he took his jump in bulldogging, the steer slipped away. He ran the length of the nearly 400-foot arena to remount. By the time he caught the steer and downed it, 41.7 seconds had ticked off the clock. He fell to fourth in the 24-head aggregate, and Coloradoan Josh Peek moved into the lead.
In the final event of this year’s Timed Event, Jess Tierney proved why steer roping his strongest event. He roped and tied his animal in 16.4 seconds. When Peek struggled and stop the clock in 33.9 seconds, Tierney earned the coveted crown.
“We went from one leading it to dropping to fifth,” Paul said. “Then the one that was third ended up winning it, but that’s the Timed Event.”
Yes, it is. The day began with five cowboys in contention for the title. It came down the final few runs of the five-round, three-day championship to decide this year’s winner of the “Ironman of ProRodeo.”
“My best friend is Jace Crabb,” Jess said of his partner in heading and heeling. “Fourteen years ago I said, ‘Someday I’m going to get to go to that Timed Event, and you and I are going to win it together.’ We’ve come here this long, and we finally won it.”
It’s just another great story in a great family CINCH Timed Event Championship legacy.
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