Ag Recognition Reception 2015

Students involved in the Black Hawk College East Campus agriculture programs were honored May 22, 2015, at the Agribusiness Club’s 42nd annual Agriculture Recognition Reception.

Click here to view the 2015 Ag Recognition Reception Program online (program contains results of all contests)

This year’s banquet, sponsored by Black Hawk College Agriculture Alumni, recognized student achievements which included 20 honor graduates, three who earned a perfect 4.0 GPA; 96 scholarship recipients; 36 achievement award winners; nine Founders Scholars and 30 Phi Theta Kappa honor society inductees.

Coaches also recapped the accomplishments and highlights of the competition teams, accomplishments and highlights of the competition teams, beginning with the National Postsecondary Agricultural Student Organization(PAS), an extension of high school FFA at the college level. This past fall nine students competed at the Fall Leadership Conference held in Dixon, Ill. Students were coached by Jeff Hawes.

The Horse Judging Team, coached by Aaron Callahan, competed at four contests. The sophomore team (12 members) finished their two-year judging career placing 1st and 4th at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and 1st and 2nd at the American Quarter Horse World Show contests this fall.

Six of the students were members of the Academic All American Horse Judging Team, chosen by the National Horse Judging Team Coach Association. Students earning this honor must have a 3.5 GPA or higher and be in the top 10 overall at the national level. Distinguished Academic All Americans have a GPA of 3.80 or higher. Members included: Makayla Maciejewski of Downs; Jamie Wall of Pierceton, Ind.; Shelby Riley of Noblesville, Ind.; Marissa Chapa of Maple Park; Rachel Riddle of Stanford and Breanna Grebin of Rochester, Minn.

The freshmen team (8 members) took over this spring with Team B placing 1st at the Middle Tennessee State University contest followed by Team A placing 3rd with teammates taking 4 of the top Individual 10 spots: Nicole Norton of Minooka, 1st; Rebecca Janes of Peotone, 2nd; Hana Murphy of Monroe City, Mo., 3rd and Lillie Beringer of Cascade, Iowa 7th. Two teams competed at the "The Spring Contest" held in Gainesville, Texas. Team A placed 2nd, Team B 3rd. Janes placed 2nd in the Individual ranking followed by teammates Norton 3rd; Beringer 6th, Brooke Catterton of Harwood, Md. 7th and Murphy 9th.

The Soil Judging Team, co-coached by Andrew Larson and Scott Wiesbrook, competed at the American Society of Agronomy Regional Contest this fall at the University of Wisconsin-Stephens Point. The 9-member team placed 1st Overall. Tanner Clementz of Elkhart, placed 1st in the Individual ranking followed by teammates Trevor Nelson of Toulon, 2nd Conner King of Kewanee, 3rd; Jamie Kraklow of Toulon, 6th; Zane Torrance of Biggsville, 7th and Blake Hall of Sterling, 8th. Other members included: Krystina Short of Topkea, Andrew Draminski of Kewanee and Kimberlee Ewart of Wapello, Iowa.

The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Team, coached by Donna Irvin, Drew Cotton and Brooke Byers (35 participants), finished the regular nine-meet season earning four team championships and three reserve championships; placed as High Point Team Champion at the Regional competition; and a 3rd finish at Semifinals. The team had 10 students compete at the Regionals and nine went on to compete at Semifinals.

Eighteen of the students were members of the Academic All American IHSA Team, chosen by the IHSA Coaches Association. Students earning this honor must have a 3.5 GPA or higher and have shown in two or more meets. First Team with a GPA of 3.8 or above included: Hannah Buser of Shiocton, Wis.; Marissa Chapa of Maple Park; Rachel Hoy of Adel, Iowa; Rebecca Janes of Peotone; Haley McWhorter of Manito; Makayla Maciejewski of Downs; Nicole Norton of Minooka; Wendi Schmid of Sheboygan, Wis. and Kaitlyn Wending of Kaneville. Second Team with a APR of 3.5 or above included: Lillie Beringer of Cascade, Iowa; Isabella Frisk of Cambridge; Breanna Grebin of Rochester, Minn.; Alexandra Logan of Oxford, Mich.; Peyton Nobis of Lockport; Lauren Peterson of Wyanet, Judith Showalter of Corunna, Ind.; Maggie Steen of Franklin, Tenn. and Lindsey Sunderlage of Kingston.

Following Semifinals, the team competed at the West Texas Junior College Equestrian Championships in Canyon, Texas. Team 2 place Reserve High Point followed by Team 1 5th Overall. Heather Burroughs of Muscatine, Iowa earned Champion in Reining and Sunderlage earned Champion in Beginner Horsemanship. Four received Reserve Champion spots: Brooke Catterton of Harwood, Md., Advanced; Codi Reed of Woodhull, Novice; McWorter, Intermediate and Maciejewski, Reining and a 6th in Open Horsemanship. Also placing at the contest were: Janes, 3rd in Intermediate Horsemanship; Zach Safley of Muscatine, Iowa, 5th in Novice Horsemanship; Dalton Kelman of Watertown, Wis., 5th in Beginner Horsemanship; Grebin, 7th in Open Horsemanship and Showalter, 7th in Advanced Horsemanship.

At the IHSA Nationals competition in Springfield, Mass., Black Hawk College finished 7th Overall in the nation. Individually, Danielle Neisendorf of Genoa finished National Champion in Individual Intermediate and 6th in Novice Horsemanship. Maciejewski earned Reserve National Championship in Individual Reining and qualified for the NRHA Collegiate Challenge. Also earning Reserve National Champion titles were McWorter in Intermediate Horsemanship; Grebin in Open Horsemanship and Mary Kandis of East Moline. Burroughs placed 6th in Team Reining and 8th in AQHA Cup. Catterton finished 7th in Advanced Horsemanship; Sunderlage 7th in Beginner Horsemanship and Reed 8th in Individual Intermediate.

For three days in early April, Black Hawk College hosted hundreds of youth and college competitors for the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference held at the iWireless Center in Moline.

Contestants competed in the following areas: Agribusiness, Agricultural Mechanics & Material Handling, Agricultural Communications, Computer Applications, Crops Judging, Dairy Judging, Horse Judging, Horticulture Judging, Knowledge Bowl, Livestock Judging, Meat Animal & Livestock Management and Soils Judging.

Some conference stats: 12 contests, 24 states, 51 schools, 173 teams, 325 youth contestants, 834 individual entries and 49,896 meals packaged for the River Bend Food Bank.

The theme for this year’s conference aligned with the Agriculture Department’s mission statement, “What starts here changes the world, one student at a time.”

The Livestock Judging teams (17 sophomores and 22 freshmen) were coached by Dan Hoge and Jared Boyert. The freshmen traveled to five contests placing in the top 10 in their team competitions. The sophomore team finished their two-year career judging 12 national contests placing in the top 10 in those competitions.

Outstanding student award plaques were provided by the Black Hawk College East Foundation. This year special awards were given to freshmen and sophomores for their outstanding achievements:

2015 Ag Award Winners
Award recipients at the Black Hawk College East Campus Ag Recognition Reception are, standing from left: Makayla Maciejewski (Downs); Thomas Trout (Huntington, Ind.); Hayden Wilder (Remington, Ind.); Heather Burroughs (Muscatine, Iowa); Melissa Knowles (Deland, Fla.); Shelby Riley (Noblesville, Ind.); Michael Scott (Townsend, Del.); Danielle Neisendorf (Genoa); Kade Knapp (Stanwood, Iowa); Athens DeMartini (Laura); Kenneth Kuehn (Neponset); Marissa Chapa (Maple Park); Rebecca Janes (Peotone); Matthew Vatland (Ottawa); Lauren Prill (Wichita, Kan.); Maggie Neer (Urbana, Ohio); Colton Geiger (Columbia City, Ind.); Clayton Boyert (Seville, Ohio) and Marlee Gensler (Toluca). Missing from the photo was: Nolan Dykema (Morrison)
Verden & Verna Lee Broers Stockman's Award
Verden and Verna Lee Broers Stockman’s Award
From left: Dan Hoge, Thomas Trout of Huntington, Ind. and Deanna Hoge
Verden & Verna Lee Broers Stockman's Award
Verden and Verna Lee Broers Stockman’s Award
From left: Dan Hoge, Melissa Knowles of Deland, Fla. and Deanna Hoge
Equine Awards
Equine Awards
From left: Makayla Maciejewski of Downs (Horse Science Award), Heather Burroughs of Muscatine, Iowa (Equestrian Science Award) and Marlee Gensler of Toluca (Equine Emeritus Award).
Benoodt & Urban Memorials
Denny Benoodt & Ken Urban Memorial Awards
From left: Lauren Prill of Wichita, Kan. (Denny Benoodt Memorial) & Hayden Wilder of Remington, Ind. (Ken Urban Memorial)
Rebecca Janes
Susan Shipp Memorial & Todd DeMay Memorial Awards
Rebecca Janes of Peotone
Cory Lowderman Freshman Challenge
Cory Lowderman Freshman Challenge Award
Michael Scott of Townsend, Del.

Last updated 5/27/2015