By GAYLE WEBER

gweber@dailynews.net

HILL CITY -- Deanna Long and Cristie Foster were some of the first people to get their tickets and mark their spots in the grandstands at the 57th annual Jayhawker Roundup Rodeo Tuesday night.

There for the bull riding, Long and Foster had a long night of rodeo ahead of them, but that's OK. The duo, along with their families, have made the rodeo a tradition over the years, spending three nights a year in the best seats in the house -- those with backrests.

"You see a lot of people that you don't normally see," Foster said.

Long agreed, saying she gets to see people she grew up with that she might not see otherwise.

But Long was busy Tuesday night, signing up her son, 5-year-old Trenton Long, for mutton busting, his favorite part of the rodeo.

"I falled on my face," Trenton Long said of his attempt to ride a sheep during Monday night's rodeo.

His second attempt Tuesday night produced a little better results.

Deanna Long said Trenton probably hasn't missed a night of rodeo in his five years. That's probably why he said he wanted to ride a bull.

"When I grow up," Trenton Long said as his mother shook her head from side to side.

Melanie Schmitz said her 3-year-old son, Mason, told her on the way home from Monday night's rodeo performance he also wanted to be a bull rider when he grows up.

"It's made an impression on him for sure," Schmitz said.

Schmitz and her family are from Independence, Kan., but are in town this week to visit family.

"We wanted to bring the kids out," Schmitz said.

It's the first time Mason and his sister, Madigan, 6, have seen a rodeo. But it didn't take Mason Schmitz long to muster up the courage to try mutton busting.

"I liked the sheep," he said after his attempt Tuesday night.

After watching her little brother try it first, Madigan Schmitz said she would be ready to try it during tonight's finale.

Most in the stands at Jayhawker Roundup Rodeo Arena were there for the bull riding, the final event of the night.

That included Hill City residents Bill Plante and Twila Weigel, who had what they consider the best seats in the house -- comfortable lawn chairs positioned on the northwest side of the arena.

"It's been pretty good tonight and the whole year," Plante said of the rodeo performances.

Plante and Weigel usually don't know any of the competitors, but said they enjoy everything about the rodeo, including the rodeo clown acts between events.

Even though the Hill City rodeo wraps up tonight, the duo, who were decked out in pink T-shirts to support "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" night, could have more bareback riding, barrel racing and steer wrestling in their future.

"We like going to Phillipsburg and Dodge (City) sometimes too just for the rodeo," Plante said.