1,329 Students from 79 Schools Converge for Possibly Largest Competition in the USA
A record-breaking 1,329 high school students judged dairy cattle, equine, general livestock and agronomy Wednesday (March 2) at the Wilmington College Aggies’ 58th annual Livestock Judging Contest.
(PICTURED) An aerial view shows some of the more than 1,300 students participating in the record-breaking Livestock Judging Contest. (Photo courtesy of Aggies/Meghan Bruns)
The event attracted students from 79 schools from Ohio and surrounding states for a competition billed as the largest east of the Mississippi River and, in the words of Aggies’ adviser, Harold Thirey, assistant professor of agriculture: “With this year’s turnout, it may be the largest in the USA!”
Thirey qualified the more than 1,300 high school 4-H and Future Farmers of America members as constituting at least a “modern-day record” during his nearly 40 years as a faculty member.
“The Aggies pulled this off superbly,” he said, noting the contest is a student-produced event, from booking the facility and publicizing it with high school students to securing the livestock and hosting an activity that draws the interest of so many persons wishing to hone their judging skills in advance of summer fairs and other competitions.
“The agriculture faculty is proud of our students,” Thirey added, citing Aggies president Peter Blair for his leadership role. He said their challenge was even greater this year as they needed to move contest from Wilmington to the Champion Expo Center at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Springfield.
Thirey mentioned that regularly attracting more than 1,000 high school students to a Wilmington College activity is a result of building credibility over the years and becoming recognized for staging a high quality event.
“The Livestock Judging Contest is well known by high school teachers, advisers and students involved in 4-H, vocational agriculture and Future Farmers of America,” he said.
Thirey added that the competition represents one of the distinct components of Wilmington’s agriculture program, which was established in 1948 and has become WC’s largest academic offering.
The agronomy competition attracted 112 students while dairy had 184, equine 250 and general livestock (beef cattle, sheep and swine) 783.
Todd Peterson of Miami Trace High School won the individual agronomy contest while Miami Trace captured the team competition. In dairy cattle, Sarah Lehner of Buckeye Valley won the event with Buckeye Valley winning the team competition.
The equine competition saw Lindsay Shapard of Fairbanks win the event and Fairbanks take the team competition and, in general livestock, Hanna Fosbank of East Clinton won the event and Triad High School took the team trophy.
