FFA Judging Team Competes in Manhattan
During the first week of May, the St. Francis FFA judging teams and their sponsor Tiffany Poet went to Manhattan for the state contest where they competed in two contests. The teams left on Sunday and stopped in Hays to work out at Fort Hays State University. They stopped at the university’s dairy and Jude Faulkender and Makayla Rogers talked though and judged dairy cows and heifers. Once they were done, the livestock team consisting of Mariah Beikman, Shakotah Blanka, Makayla Rogers and Garrett Brunk worked on hogs. Both teams practiced reasons at the hotel that evening following the workout.
The next morning, the team arrived in Manhattan where the dairy team competed. In addition to a written test, there were four classes of cows, two classes of heifers to be evaluated and two sets of oral reasons to be delivered. Both individuals competed well with Jude placing 51st (silver division) out of 178 competitors. Tuesday morning, the livestock team had the opportunity to challenge 84 teams and 289 individuals. The team judged eight classes of four different species, including cattle, swine, sheep, and goats. Three sets of oral reasons were also required, on the Angus heifers, market hogs, and Hampshire breeding ewe classes. The team received an impressive 19th finish. Individual placings were Garrett 42nd (silver division), Mariah 114th (bronze division), and Shakotah 115th (bronze division). Overall this was a great experience for this group of young judgers. The livestock team would like to give a huge thank you to Marty Fear, Cheyenne County Livestock Extension Specialist, for coaching the team.