Livestock Team Earns Texas Trophies: LBCC’s livestock judging team finishes top-five in all categories in Amarillo

On Sept. 16, LBCC’s livestock judging team competed in Amarillo, Texas, for the Tri-State Fair Livestock Judging Contest.

The team spent two and a half days before the competition in Albuquerque and Tucumcari, New Mexico, to prepare for the contest that featured 37 competitors and nine different teams from around the country.

LBCC placed second overall in the competition behind South Plains College in Texas. The team had three students placing in the top 15 of the individual competition; Madison Morgan finished fifth, Bailey Samper finished 10th, and Mikayla Duchi finished in 11th place.

In beef, the team finished second overall with Samper finishing in fourth, Duchi in eighth, and Jared Wolf finishing 12th in the individual competition.

The team wound up second in sheep and goats, but claimed the top four spots in the individual performances, with Noa Taipin winning first place, Samper coming in second, Morgan landing in third place, and Duchi in fourth place.

In the swine category, LB finished fourth overall with Emitt White coming in fifth and Morgan in eighth place.

In the oral reasons portion of the competition, the team finished second with five different students landing in the top 10 of the individual competition. Samper claimed second place, Wolf came in third place, Morgan finished sixth, Duchi finished eighth, and Taipin finished ninth.

The team was pleased with their overall performance, earning top five finishes in all categories despite only having three days prior to the competition for preparation, the team noted in an email about the competition.

“I was impressed, but not surprised with the LB students. They are a very talented group of young people and will only get better as the year goes on,” said coach Clay Weber.

The team’s next competition is the Western Fall Classic on Oct. 14, in Central Point, Oregon.

Story by Joshua Stickrod