Bird & Campbell Win Charity Roping

Dustin Bird, left, and B.J. Campbell, right, picked up $4,657 per man and Coats trophy saddles at the third annual James Pickens Jr. Foundation Charity Roping, held April 24 at the 270,000-acre Tejon Ranch in Lebec, Calif. Montana’s Bird and California native Campbell, who currently lives in Arizona, roped five steers in 34.14 seconds. They jumped from seventh high call to first in the average with a 5.04-second short-round run, and Campbell borrowed heel horses from Brooks Dahozy, Brandon Bates and brother Bucky to get the job done. Pickens, center,  stars on the ABC hit series Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Richard Webber, and caught the team roping bug about 15 years ago. For three straight years, he’s united his passions for roping and helping young people, along with his awe of the open ropers’ talent, to produce this event, which features $5,000 added money out of his own pocket and no stock charge. (Story & Photo By Kendra Santos) Complete results in the June issue of Ropers Sports News.