Lind FFA claims national trophies

The Lind FFA’s excursion to Indianapolis for the National FFA Convention turned into a trophy collecting trip.

The chapter’s agronomy team captured third place overall as a team. The individual members also placed high in the rankings. Bridger Smith finished eighth overall. Maya Wahl came in 13th. Connor O’Neill followed in 16th and Scott Diefenbach finished 18th.

The marketing team, featuring two Lind High School graduates, captured fifth place. The team consisted of Saige Casady, Jessica Hernandez and Brandon Knodel.

“It’s cool with how small of a school we are. It’s not like it’s broken down into B and A schools, with only 100 kids in the school to be one of the top teams in the nation.” said chapter advisor Andy Williams.

The agronomy team earned the high honors with three sophomores and a junior on the team.

“For us to place third, I was very pleased with that,” Williams said. “We are in the elite now. We had the highest team activity score in the nation.”

Smith earned a $1,000 scholarship for his eighth place individual finish.

The marketing team featured 2011 graduates Hernandez and Casady. A member of the original team was unable to attend. That’s where Knodel stepped in.

“Brandon stepped in with two months to prepare. He really took ownership of it and understood it,” Williams said.

The elated advisor noted that Casady currently has a full-time job and Hernandez is a student athlete at Big Bend Community College.

“They are absolutely better now than they were at state,” Williams said.