The Eureka FFA livestock judging team competed at the National Western Livestock Show and Rodeo on January 8th in Denver Colorado. The team was selected by the Illinois State FFA Association to represent Illinois in the competition based on its Runner-up Performance at last spring’s State FFA Contest held at the University of Illinois. The team spent the last 3 months practicing for this prestigious event. The National Western show is one of the longest running livestock shows in the country. It is often referred to as the super bowl of the livestock industry. The team competed against other state championship caliber teams from all over the country. On Saturday, the team evaluated some of the highest quality livestock many of them have ever seen. The morning consisted of evaluating 10 different classes made up of cattle, hogs, sheep and goats. In the afternoon, the team gave 6 sets oral reasons on the classes they evaluated in the morning. The team consisting of Dan Leman (Sr), Gavin Arvin ( Sr), Brad Krumholz (Jr.) , Katie Krumholz (Fr) and Josh Robinson ( So) placed 11th overall. The team was 2nd overall in the Swine Division, 9th overall in the Sheep division, 4th overall in the Goats Division and 6th overall in the Reasons Division. Individually, Katie Krumholz placed 8th overall in sheep, Dan Leman placed 9th overall in Swine, and Brad Krumholz placed 8th overall in Goats. The trip offered a great learning experience to all the team members by allowing them to evaluate such outstanding livestock. Other team members making the trip were, Allie Miller and Andrea Hunt. The team could not have had this opportunity without the support of the schools administration, school board, and community sponsors. The trip was funded by these great sponsors: Gold Level- Reel Livestock Center-Dickenson Angus, Silver Level-Carroll Oil-Chad Leman- Sam Leman Eureka-Blackmer Farms- Windmill Creek Ranch-Yoder Oil –EHS Solutions -, Bronze Sponsor-McKenna Vet Services-Martin Equipment-Kelsey Farms. Thank to everyone who supported the Eureka FFA Livestock Judging Team this winter.
