The Texas Tech University collective outdistanced Texas A&M for the crown.
For the second straight year, the Texas Tech University Livestock Judging Team in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources captured the overall title at the State Fair of Texas Collegiate Livestock Contest in Dallas.
The defending national champions from Texas Tech beat Texas A&M by 11 points, 4,717 to 4,706, on the strength of first-place finishes in the sheep/goat and swine divisions while finishing second in the cattle and reasons divisions. The finish was nine points better than the team accumulated to win the event last year.
Texas Tech took first in sheep/goat with 1,431 points, beating Texas A&M by six points and neighbor West Texas A&M by 25 points. In the swine division, Texas Tech won by 10 points over Texas A&M, 1,615 to 1,605. Texas Tech also took first in placing with 2,880 points.
In the cattle division, Texas Tech came up five points short of the win with 1,671 points while falling by just one point in reasons with 1,837 points.
Individually, Texas Tech had five team members place in the top 10, led by Chama Martin's second-place finish. Martin, a senior from Mason, racked up 953 points, just one point ahead of teammate and third-place finisher Brody Halfmann from Garden City.
Gabe Jennings, a senior from Fredonia, finished fifth with 951 points while Austin Adams, a senior from Hedley, and Zane Webster, a senior from San Simon, Arizona, took ninth and 10th place with 939 and 936 points, respectively.
Other members of the livestock judging team are:
- Jonathan Neiman, a senior from New Home
- LJ Young, a senior from Pendelton, Indiana
- Dakota Crissman, a senior from Bells
- Maclaine Shultz, a senior from Meeker, Colorado
Ryan Rathmann, an associate professor and the John W. and Doris Jones Professor in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, coaches the team. Graduate student Jon DeClerck is the assistant coach.
The team has one more competition remaining, the American Royal in Kansas City, Missouri, on Sunday (Oct. 16), before the national championships in Louisville, Kentucky, Nov. 14-15.
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