The Ohio State University took home the top honors and the coveted Brown Swiss Canton III Traveling Trophy on September 20, 2009 after winning the 16th Annual Accelerated Genetics Intercollegiate Dairy Cattle Judging Contest. The Ohio State University team coached by Bonnie Ayars and Bill Langel included team members: Curtis Bickel, Jason Miley, Laura Gordon and Hannah Thompson.
There was much excitement during this year’s awards banquet as the placings and cuts were revealed along with the award winner’s announced for each breed, reasons and then overall. Placing Second Overall in the contest was the University of Wisconsin-Madison, coached by Ted Halbach. Team members: Carissa Levash, Ty Hildebrandt, Laura Elliott and Danielle Brown. And coming in Third Overall was the University of Minnesota, coached by Les Hansen. Team members: Caitlin Kasper, Megan Herberg, Abby Udermann and Robert Westman.
In the Overall Individual competition a University of Wisconsin-Madison student, Carissa Levash, took home the top spot. The other top individuals included. Caitlin Kasper, second, University of Minnesota; Jason Miley, third, The Ohio State University; Danielle Brown, fourth, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Curtis Bickel, fifth, The Ohio State University; Gary Bettencourt, sixth, Modesto Junior College; Hannah Thompson, seventh, The Ohio State University; Kaleena Westaby, eighth, Iowa State University; Megan Herberg, ninth, University of Minnesota; and Val Mohr, tenth, South Dakota State University.
The University of Minnesota team won the High Team in Reasons with second place going to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and third place went to The Ohio State University.
The Top Three Individials in Oral Reasons take home a special scholarship from the James Crowley Fund. Placing First in Oral Reasons was Carissa Levash, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Second was awarded to Jason Miley, The Ohio State University; and Third was awarded to Caitlin Kasper, University of Minnesota.
Thirteen teams participated in the contest this year from all across the United States. The contest is held at the Vernon County Fairgrounds in Viroqua, Wisconsin. During the contest each participant placed ten classes and gave five sets of oral reasons. They judged at least one class of each of the following breeds: Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, Guernsey, Holstein, Jersey and Milking Shorthorn.