K-State achievements--2002 Judging teams

2002 Judging teams

* K-State's Collegiate Crops Judging Team has claimed the title of national champions for the fourth consecutive year, a feat last accomplished by Texas Tech University in the early 1970s. The team captured victories at both the Kansas City Board of Trade and Chicago Collegiate Crops contests to with the national championship. K-State placed first in all three phases of each contest: seed analysis, grain grading and plant and seed identification. The national competition required participants to identify more than 200 different plants or seeds of crops and weeds. Students were required to perform grain grading, which involves examining eight different grain samples to determine the grade of grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service Standards. The competition also included seed analysis, which requires competitors to determine whether seed samples contain impurities and if so, what contaminants exist. November 2002

* K-State senior Tom Patterson won the individual title, leading his team to an eighth place finish at the National Collegiate Livestock Judging Championships in Louisville, Ky. Derek Azeuedo, a K-State senior from Modesto, Calif., placed 10th individually. Participants ranked sheep, beef cattle and swine based on breeding and market values, as well as provided oral reasons for their rankings. K-State had placed second as a team the past two years, after winning five straight team titles from 1995 to 1999. Prior to the national competition, K-State finished second at both the Mid-American Classic in Wichita, Kan., and the World Beef Expo in Madison, Wis. The team also placed sixth at the American Royal in Kansas City, Mo. November 2002

* For the eighth year in a row, the K-State Crops Team placed first overall in the Central Region Collegiate Crops Contest, Oct. 26 in Manhattan. Twenty-two students from five universities and community colleges participated in the contest. Gerry Posler, professor of agronomy, coached the K-State team. The competition included three parts: identification, which consisted of identifying 200 different plants or seeds of crops or weeds; grain grading, which involved examining eight different samples of grain, then determining the grade of the grain according to Federal Grain Inspection Service standards; and seed analysis, which consisted of determining whether seed samples contained impurities and identifying each contaminant. Kyle Cott, junior in agronomy, Clay Center, was named high individual. Cott placed first in seed analysis, second in grain grading, and third in identification. Jon Kerschen, junior in milling science, Garden Plain, placed third overall. Kerschen placed first in identification, second in seed analysis, and fifth in grain grading. Mark Dilts, junior in milling science, Sedgwick, placed fourth overall. Dilts placed fourth in all three phases of the contest. November 2002

* K-State's Crops Judging Team won the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Crops Contest title April 5 at Cal Poly Pomona University in Pomona, Calif. The team placed first in Agronomic Calculations and Laboratory Practical, and second in the Agronomic Exam and Identification categories of the competition. The competition tested participant skills in four areas. Lorrie Ferdinand, senior in agronomy, Reading, placed fifth overall with sixth place honors in the Laboratory Practical, fourth in Identification and third in Agronomic Calculations; Jon Kerschen, junior in agronomy, Garden Plain, took seventh overall with a fifth place finish in Identification and Laboratory Practical and eighth in Agronomic Calculations; Andrea Reedy, junior in agronomy, Concordia, placed 12th overall after finishing third in Agronomic Exam and ninth in Laboratory Practical; and Dustan Ridder, junior in agronomy, Leoti, placed as fourth individual overall with a third place finish in Identification, fifth in Agronomic Exam and seventh in Agronomic Calculations and Laboratory Practical. Gerry L. Posler, K-State professor of agronomy, served as team coach and adviser. April 2002