Country World Archives 2001-2008
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Over 420 school districts send students to FFA Invitational Career Development Event |
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By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition |
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April 7, 2005 - FFA high school students from across Texas gathered at Tarleton State University in Stephenville to compete in the Statewide FFA Invitational Career Development Event on March 24. The event allows students to perform a "practice round" in preparation for the team judging in 12 different categories, including dairy cattle, dairy foods, entomology, farm business management, horse, land, wildlife, horticulture, livestock, meats, poultry and range and pasture. "This is by far the largest invitational we have. There are around 4,200 students here this year," said Dr. Don Cawthon, dean of the college of agriculture and human sciences at TSU. "In fact, this is the largest of this type of event in the world." TSU has hosted FFA contests for high school students for the past 77 years. Dr. Ted Ford, an associate professor in the agriculture department at TSU, has taken leadership over the FFA and 4-H events that take place at the university. "We pretty much work year round for this. It's an intense three weeks before the event and three days after it," Ford said. "There are 1,500 high school ag programs across the state. Today, we have students from 421 school districts. This is probably our 27th year of having this contest and it's grown a whole lot over the years. We have this competition because we enjoy it and it's great for the students." Thirteen scholarships were given away and there was one Sweepstakes Winner, which goes to the school that brings the most team members, performs the best and has the most points at the end of the competitions. "This is a pre-runner of official competitions that go on at district and state," Cawthon said. "This serves as a tool for students and teachers to evaluate how well prepared the students are. This also allows the students to visit a college campus and see what it is like." The top 20 individual finishers in each category was recognized during an awards ceremony and presented with a plaque, cap and other goodies. Top three winners in individual and team, followed by school and total points. Wildlife Individual: 1st, Garrett Fincher, Stephenville, 132 2nd, Alan Hutchins, Stephenville, 124 3rd, Mallory Williams, Jacksboro, 115 Team: 1st, Stephenville, 354 2nd, Jacksboro, 323 3rd, Klein, 305
Dairy Cattle Individual: 1st, Dustin Smith, Plainview, 435 2nd, Randal Steubing, Hondo, 427 3rd, Kortney Kupatt, Rule, 424 Team: 1st, Hondo, 1,277 2nd, Plainvies, 1,223 3rd, Rule, 1,222
Dairy Foods Individual: 1st, Ruby Perez, Klondike, 190 2nd, Katie Glover, Florence, 185 3rd, Alex Mulliken, Plainview, 184 Team: 1st, Florence, 545 2nd, Klondike, 541 3rd, Katy, 524
Entomology Individual: 1st, Randi Shannahan, Wall, 200 2nd, Will Floyd, Snyder, 193 3rd, Ashli Gentry, Devine, 185 Team: 1st, Wall, 556 2nd, Devine, 519 3rd, Jayton-Girard, 495
Farm Business Management Individual: 1st, Daniel Cope, Riesel, 220 2nd, Josh Voiles, Lorena, 212 3rd, Andrew Engram, Lorena, 210 Team: 1st, Riesel, 627 2nd, Lorena, 625 3rd, Midway, 562
Horse Individual: 1st, Bergen Touseatant, Elgin, 408 2nd, Cole Fincher, Stephenville, 403 3rd, Cody Williams, Angleton, 403 Team: 1st, Angleton, 1,178 2nd, Stephenville, 1,173 3rd, Gatesville, 1,153
Land Individual: 1st, Ben Port, Buffalo, 268 2nd, Caleb Henson, Buffalo, 264 3rd, Lance Lee, Buffalo, 241 Team: 1st, Buffalo, 773 2nd, Jacksboro, 633 3rd, Grapeland, 630
Landscape Individual: 1st, Jaelynn Covington, Harmony, 859 2nd, Caitlyn Dobyns, Mineral Wells, 837 3rd, William Bond, Brownwood, 830 Team: 1st, Iowa Park, 2,346 2nd, Brownwood, 2,345 3rd, Calallen, 2,345
Livestock Individual: 1st, Sarah Bownan, Grandview, 672 2nd, Dustin Burke, Calallen, 671 3rd, Derek Steinbring, Fredericksburg, 669 Team: 1st, New Home, 1,918 2nd, Fredericksburg, 1,911 3rd, Blum, 1,906
Meats Individual: 1st, Kristen Wiehe, Florence, 692 2nd, Jacob Lemmons, Florence, 689 3rd, Ray Almager, Spur, 686 Team: 1st, Florence, 2,047 2nd, East Central, 2,036 3rd, Seymour, 2,000
Poultry Individual: 1st, Tiffani Osborn, Midlothian, 579 2nd, Erin Aelvoet, Hondo, 551 3rd, Joshua Gutz, East Central, 551 Team: 1st, Midlothian, 1,648 2nd, La Vernia, 1,642 3rd, East Central, 1,642
Range and Pasture Individual: 1st, Beth McMahon, Harper, 311 2nd, Matt Mullen, Cleburne, 311 3rd, Carlos Marquez, Comfort, 311 Team: 1st, Blanco, 888 2nd, Holliday, 878 3rd, Granbury, 866
Range and Pasture Area 6 Individual: 1st, Reese Arnett, Mount Vernon, 237 2nd, Samual Lawrence, Mount Vernon, 204 3rd, Colter Buck, Mount Vernon, 195 Team: 1st, Mount Vernon, 636 2nd, Avery, 346 3rd, Yantis, 338
Sweepstakes Award Winner: Stephenville |
