Lind-Ritzville FFA succeeds at local competitions

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter sent teams to compete in the state horse judging contest and the Adams County soils contest throughout the past month.

Recently, the team that traveled to the state horse judging competition included members Kate Schell, Heidi Hennings, Erika Leffel, Peyton Curtis and Rachel Schell.

The contest consisted of four halter classes, two performance classes, tack identification, equipment identification and oral reasons. The Lind-Ritzville Team placed eighth overall and Curtis finished as the sixth high individual for the contest.

Advisor Brad Gering noted that the team is young, consisting of two sophomores, an eighth grader and two seventh grade students. The team plans on being very competitive next year and is hoping to eventually earn a trip to the National FFA Convention.

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter competed at the Adams County soils contest on Oct. 16. There were 34 teams competing and over 180 students at the competition.

Schools competing included, Garfield-Palouse, Rosalia, Colfax, Prosser, Davenport, Springdale, Tekoa, Wilson Creek, LaCrosse, Freeman, Lind-Ritzville and Sprague. The Adams County Conservation District hosted the event for the schools.

Team members for the top team for Lind-Ritzville were Connor O’Neill, Tyler O’Brien, Colby Starring, Bridger Smith, and Dylan Hartz.

The top five teams were Garfield-Palouse in first with a score of 1,203, Rosalia was second with 1,202, Lind-Ritzville was third with 1,198, Prosser was fourth with 1,171, and Tekoa was fifth with 1,133.

Individually for Lind-Ritzville, O’Brien tied for first with a score of 321 out of a possible 325 and Starring tied for third and fourth with 316.