Jr Livestock Judging Team Advances to State at FFA CDEs
By: Sydney Reeves, a junior at Leigh High School
On the FFA calendar, the CDE contests are an important date each year. CDE stands for “Career Development Event”. CDE’s are a great opportunity for students to compete and learn valuable agricultural and leadership skills.
On Thursday, January 27, the Leigh FFA Chapter was involved in District CDE’s at Northeast Community College. The FFA Chapter had a successful day overall, with the Junior Livestock Judging Team placing third and advancing to the state level out of a very tough pool of competition.
The third-place team finish overall came after sophomore Taya Hambleton placed first overall in Junior Livestock judging and sophomore James Grotelueschen finished 11th.
Even though the senior livestock judging team did not qualify for state, senior Jacob Eisenmann had a very notable finish, placing 4th overall out of over 100 contestants.
Madison Noonan, president of Leigh FFA and a senior said, “CDE's went very well for everyone. Many members did a great job adjusting and figuring out the events they participated in. This was a great experience for everyone, as they all had to work as a team and create ideas.”
The junior livestock judging team advances to the state competition held in April.
Full results from the events are as follows:
Senior Livestock Judging: 7th place overall
Jacob Eisenmann—4th place; Jordan Noonan—29th place; Dalton Zulkoski—31st place; Nathan Bahns
Junior Livestock Judging: 3rd place overall (State Qualifying)
Taya Hambleton—1st place; James Grotelueschen—11th place; Kammy Held—36th place; Carter Brabec
Food Science: 9th place overall
Mason Whitmore—15th place (blue ribbon); Audie Tejkl—23rd place (red ribbon); Jacob Martensen, Carter Timm
Agronomy: 7th place overall
Dylan Brabec—18th place; Jackson Mullenhoff—24th place; Jacob Martensen—27th place; Jack Brabec
Floriculture:
Team 1: Gracie Eisenmann, Sydney Reeves, Korbee Wendt
Team 2: Makenna Held, Madison Noonan, Macy Clausen