BHC sweeps NACTA Judging Conference for third straight year

BHC NACTA winning team members & coaches 2018Congratulations to Black Hawk College East Campus students and coaches for winning the 2018 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference Sweepstakes Award!

This marks the 10th time Black Hawk College has garnered the top prize at the national judging conference. BHC students brought home the Sweepstakes Award in 1981-85, 1989, 2009, 2016 and 2017.

The 2018 conference attracted more than 700 students and faculty members from colleges and universities across the United States. Students competed in 13 agriculture-related competitions.

Black Hawk College won by having the highest combined team score for two-year schools, scoring 6,895 points. The total was 266 points more than the second place team, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture from Curtis, NE. Iowa State University won for the four-year-schools.

“The highlight of the NACTA Judging Conference is seeing students compete in many difficult disciplines to accumulate points toward the sweepstakes award,” said Drew Cotton, coach and associate professor of horse science.

“The interdisciplinary approach toward a common goal is great preparation for their careers in agriculture,” he said.

Black Hawk College competed in 11 of the 13 competitions and won five – Ag Sales & Communications, Computer Applications, Equine Judging, Livestock Management and Soils. BHC teams also took third place in three competitions – Agribusiness, Crops and Precision Agriculture.

Thanks and congratulations to the Black Hawk College coaches:

  • Aaron Callahan, coach of the Equine Judging Team
  • Drew Cotton, coach of the Ag Communications/Ag Sales Team and Agribusiness Team
  • Dr. Jeffry Hawes, coach of the Crops Team, Horticulture Team and Knowledge Bowl Team
  • Dan Hoge and Tyler Gradert, coaches of the Livestock Judging Team and Livestock Management Team
  • Andrew Larson, coach of the Soils Team
  • Jodee Werkheiser, coach of the Computer Applications Team and Knowledge Bowl Team
  • Gary Werkheiser, coach of the Precision Agriculture Team

The 2018 NACTA Judging Conference was hosted by Northeast Community College in Norfolk, NE.