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East Campus Students win 2026 NACTA
Congratulations to the Black Hawk College East Campus students and coaches for winning the 2026 North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) Judging Conference Sweepstakes Award!
More than 50 BHC students participated in 13 contests April 22-25 at Illinois State University.
This marks the 17th 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, 2014, 2016-19 and 2022-25. The contest was not held in 2020 and 2021.
The judging conference is open to all two-year and four-year schools that have institutional NACTA membership. The BHC team won by having the highest combined team score for two-year schools.
Coaches
Thanks and congratulations to the Black Hawk College coaches:
- Grace Angotti – Dairy Cattle Judging, Knowledge Bowl and Livestock Judging
- Dr. Blake Bloomberg – Dairy Cattle Judging, Livestock Judging and Livestock Management
- Aaron Callahan – Hippology, Horse Judging and Parliamentary Procedure
- Drew Cotton – Ag Education and Agribusiness
- Janet Johnson – Ag Computers and Vet Science
- Cole Wright – Precision Ag and Soils
Top team and top individual results
Dairy Cattle Judging
Team – 2nd
Top individual placings:
- 4th – Faith Lortie
- 6th – Emily Fritz
- 10th – Kelsey Zepp
- 11th – Hannah Miller
Hippology
Team – 1st
Top individual placings:
- 1st – Talisa Thomas
- 2nd – Ellie Ellis
Horse Judging
Team – 1st and 2nd in Halter, Performance, Reasons and Overall
Top individual placings:
- 1st – Ellie Ellis
- 2nd – Talisa Thomas
- 3rd – Allison Copland
Knowledge Bowl
Team – 1st
Team members – Karsyn Cocanower, Logan Goerks, Grace Hingtgen, Hannah Miller, Olivia Shike and Kynseth Zubrod
Livestock Judging
Team – 1st
Top individual placings:
- 1st – Kashen Ellerbrock
- 4th – Hannah Miller
- 7th – Caleb Kruse
Livestock Management
Team – 1st
Top individual placings:
- 1st – Olivia Shike
- 3rd – Hannah Miller
Additional team members – Karsyn Cocanower and Kynseth Zubrod
Precision Ag
Team – 3rd
Team members – Logan Goerks, Luke Nelson, Chase Ragar and Reuben Knepper
Soils
Team – 1st
Top individual placings:
- 1st – Logan Goerks
- 2nd – Rachel DeRycke
- 3rd – Chase Rager
- 4th – Luke Nelson
- 8th – Emily West
Veterinary Science
Team – 1st
Top individual placings:
- 2nd – Grace Cruise
- 3rd – Lydia Barnett
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