Collegiate soils contest—senior recognition

April 22, 2020

Members of soils judging teams from the following schools: (top row) University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Penn State, West Virginia University, Delaware Valley University, (middle row) University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Cal Poly, North Carolina State University, University of Maryland, (bottom row) University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Minnesota, and Texas Tech University.

COVID-19 has impacted our communities, caused dramatic closures of campuses, and led to the cancellation of countless events. One such event was the National Collegiate Soils Contest, slated to be hosted by Ohio State University, 19–24 April.

Collegiate soil judging has been a regional and national tradition since 1961 and was recently expanded to the international stage. The U.S. is divided into seven regions where students and teams compete locally to qualify for the national contest. Students spend countless months preparing for this contest, beginning with regional qualifying contests in the fall. Teams and coaches from 27 universities (including about 150 students) have spent the past year diligently preparing for the 2020 national contest.

To the students who would have competed in Ohio—congratulations! Your hard work, dedication, and commitment to soil judging paid off, and you earned your place in the national contest. Many students have spent several years, if not their entire college career, preparing for the opportunity to shine on the national level. While we know it can't possibly take the place of competing, we want to recognize the teams and seniors (see p. 44) who would have competed in Ohio.

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Dr. Brian Slater and his team from Ohio State University who spent more than a year coordinating this contest. Dr. Slater collaborated with soil scientists from USDA-NRCS and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. They excavated 26 soil pits, collected hundreds of samples, and worked tirelessly to accurately describe the soil conditions during the planning process.

Not all photos were available at the time of publication. For more photos and to learn more about these outstanding seniors, visit soils.org/undergrads/contests/soils-contests.

National Collegiate Soils Contest Teams

The following teams qualified to compete at the National Collegiate Soils Contest:

Region 1

Delaware Valley University

Penn State University

University of Delaware

University of Maryland

University of Rhode Island

Region 2

Auburn University

Clemson University

North Carolina State University

University of Kentucky

University of Tennessee–Knoxville

West Virginia University

Region 3

Purdue UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin–Platteville

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point

Region 4

Oklahoma State University

Texas A&M University

Texas Tech University

Region 5

University of Minnesota

University of Missouri

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Region 6

California Polytechnic State University

Humboldt State University

New Mexico State University

Region 7

Colorado State University

University Wyoming

Utah State University

2020 National Collegiate Soils Contest Seniors

California Polytechnic State University

Freddie Mayer

Janelle Rey

Katie White

Lillian Graham

Clemson University

Isabella Hill

Colorado State University

Amanda Greenwalt

Bo Collins

Connor Long

Hope Raymond

Lucille Rollins

Nolan Bunting

Paul Gadecki

Delaware Valley University

Dave Edenfield

Heather Stellabott

Jackie Heitz

Jonathan Bruxvoort

Kaitlin Scioscia

Michael Everett

Humboldt State University

Alex Urban

Jeremy Goossens

Megan Mitchell

Nic Anderson

Sean Fritz

Tiffany Perez

North Carolina State University

Betsy Murphy

Bryce Mericka

Heath Clapp

Mikayla Graham

Oklahoma State University

Cortney Keeney

Elisabeth Haymaker

Johnathan Mc

Caslin

Marie Mellick

Maura Shennan

Pennsylvania State University

Dan Wesdock

Lily Kile

Purdue University

Robert Armstrong

Troye Hook

Texas A&M University

Ashtyn Stufflebeam

Cody Garcia

Marcus Rose

Nickolas Frisbee

Texas Tech University

Mariah Bates

Rebekah Ortiz

Sarah Pennington

University of Delaware

Luke Meacci

Rachel King

Ryan Seeley

University of Kentucky

Jeffery McCall

University of Maryland

Isabella Bruno

Jonathan Moy

Mary Gumerov

Mia Godbey

Wade Williams

Yunxuan Pei

University of Minnesota

Gabe Benitez

Harley Braun

Will Effertz

University of Missouri

Cole Diggins

University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Bryan Petersen

Rebekah Simmons

University of Rhode Island

Austin Price

Brendan Rainey

Hannah Chace

Luke Espindola

Matt Antunes

Will Ryan

University of Tennessee–Knoxville

Eli Oliver

Madelyn Wood

Sterling McClanahan

University of Wisconsin–Platteville

Samuel Peetz

Sarah Breuer

Wrangler Jones

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point

Andre Doucette

Ella Aspenson

Laurel Deitch

Lee Nachreiner

Maxwell Hankard

Nick Rainey

University of Wyoming

Austin Jacobson

Madelyn Haeg

Matthew Ratterman

Megan Andersen

Noah Cheshier

Ryan Brentzel

Taylor Britt

West Virginia University

Amos Stead

Hannah Walls

Jenna Floyd

Lacey Seckman

Shardonay Miller

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