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Quanah FFA CDE Teams Finish Season, Horse Judging and Farm Business Management Teams Headed to State

Members of the Quanah FFA Career Development Events teams finished the regular season after competitions at the Weatherford College, TSU, WATMU, Clarendon College, and the Area IV FFA CDE’s.
The Horse Judging team finished 5th out of 47 teams in Area IV competition. The team consisting of Marissa Sparkman, Destinie Duncan, Tess Cash, Justin Quisenberry, and Kale Akers also competed at Weatherford, TSU, WTAMU and Clarendon. “With this group, it truly was a team effort. You never knew from contest to contest who the high individual on the team would be, but you did know that there would be three close scores to count. At the Area IV contest we didn’t have a top 10 individual, but all four members of the area team’s scores were within 10 points of each other ranging from 359-369. That consistency allowed us to place 5th and advance to State competition on April 19, 2008 at Texas Tech. Everyone on this team has put out a lot of effort in practices held late evenings and had the drive to make practice contests on early mornings four days in a row. I am very proud of this bunch and know that they will continue to work hard preparing for state in a couple of weeks.” stated advisor Shawn Ferguson.
Members of the Farm Business team finished 5th in Area IV competition earning a trip to the state contest. The team consisting of Marley Sparkman, Jacie Randolph, and Kylie Watson, all freshmen, placed 5th as as team in Area IV competition to qualify. “These members, along with Jessie Loveless have been pulling double duty this spring practicing for both Poultry Judging and Farm Business Management CDE’s. We are starting over brand new this year after winning the state contest last year as CDE rules do not allow for any member of a state winning team to compete in that event again. These young ladies have learned quickly and will continue to improve before the state contest to be held April 25, 2008 in Huntsville, TX,” stated Ferguson.
The Livestock Judging team finished their season at the Area IV competition last week. The team consisting of Jonna Williams, Kim Freeman, and Garrett Betts also competed at Weatherford, TSU, WTAMU and Clarendon. “This is another team that is very young and has shown a lot of improvement throughout the season. I appreciate senior Jonna Williams who has led the team this season and has been a four year member of the team,” stated Ferguson, “The team placed in the top ½ of all teams on 2 of the 3 days that we had a full team to work with. Kim Freeman and Garrett Betts are 1st year members who worked hard, have shown a lot of promise this season, and to whom I look to be the anchors of this team for the next few years.”
The Poultry team consisting of Carley Foster, Mary Gorley, Melissa Martinez, and Jesse Loveless had a great judging season after finishing 8th place out of 24 at the Area IV competition at TSU. Carley was the 7th high individual at TSU with a score of 515/600. “Our goal this year was to qualify for state. We were close but just fell short. All of the poultry team will be returning next year to give them another opportunity to qualify for state” stated advisor Kyle Holton.
The Dairy Foods team of Anthony Walker, Trae Hendrix, Erin Loveless, and Bryson Johnson finished 11th at the Area competition. “This is a new contest for Quanah FFA, so we are still learning as we go,” stated Holton. “Just the same, the whole Dairy team will be returning next year.” Also on the Dairy Foods team was Roderick Woodard and Kylar Bursey. These two members judged dairy cattle for Quanah FFA.

The Land Judging team consisting of Jay Brandon, Jeff Raschke, Ronnie Davis and Tyson Marsh finished 12th at Area IV competition. Jeff Raschke was 1st place individual at WTAMU. “I am proud of Jeff Raschke, because winning first place in any CDE contest is a huge accomplishment. After 4 years of competing on the land team, winning first shows how dedication and hard work pays off in the end,” stated Holton. Jay Brandon and Jeff Raschke were seniors and finished their last year of judging for Quanah FFA.