FFA members earn ticket to nationals

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter added two teams to the ticket who will travel to Indianapolis this fall and compete at the National FFA Convention.

The Marketing Plan and Meats Judging teams placed first at the Washington State FFA Convention in Pullman on May 16-18, and seven students earned a chance to attend nationals.

The two teams join the Agronomy team as top state finishers, as the Agronomy competition was held earlier this year prior to the state convention.

The Lind-Ritzville FFA chapter had 53 students travel to the three-day convention.

Two sophomore students made their mark at convention by being members of both top-placing teams. Madison Harder and Taylor Kulm helped their team qualify for nationals by participating in back-to-back contests on Friday, May 16, and Saturday, May 17, at the state convention, an impressive feat and testament to the girls’ professionalism, advisor Andy Williams said.

The Marketing Plan team placed first during the Friday contests and team members are Kulm, Hallie Jo Galbreath and Harder. All three girls are sophomores and now continue to improve their presentation for the national competition.

The Meats Judging team concluded its contest on Saturday and team members are Harder, Kulm, Tyler Frederick, Cort Ruzicka, Ryan Frederick and Tyler O’Brien. Individually, Harder placed first in the state, Tyler placed second and Ruzicka finished seventh.

Among the highlights of the convention, Lind-Ritzville FFA Chapter president Maya Wahl earned a position as the Washington FFA State Secretary. Wahl now spends the next year traveling throughout the state promoting agriculture.

In the Farm Business Management contest, the Lind-Ritzville chapter had two teams compete, which finished in second and sixth in the state. Team one members who finished in second place are Brian Campbell, Bridger Smith, Hugh Hennings, Connor O’Neill and Elizabeth Schofstoll. Team two members who finished sixth are Dane Wahl, Trevor Jantz, Matt Leffel, Bryson Gering and Caitlin Schoessler.

Individually, Campbell finished second and Smith earned fourth place while O’Neill and Hennings tied for 10th place.

Also competing at state for Lind-Ritzville was the Rituals team. The team finished third in state and team members were Tessa Jantz, TyAnn Tellefson, Felicia Ziemer, Kallie Harder, Emily Kinney and Erica Leffel.

Prior to traveling to the state convention, the Lind-Ritzville chapter had a team compete in the state Livestock Judging competition. The team finished second in the state, and team members are Tara Tellefson, TyAnn Tellefson, Kulm, Sydney Nelson, Bryce Pichette and Heidi Hennings.

Williams said the team had exceeded expectations by finishing second in state, as the team members are predominately underclassmen or middle school students. Tara Tellefson placed as the sixth high individual.

In Pullman, the chapter also had members competing in the Dairy Foods, Ag Issues, Junior Quiz Bowl, FARM, Extemporaneous Speaking, Job Interview and First Year Member contests.

In the Job Interview contest, Wahl represented the chapter and earned a third place finish in state.

The Junior Quiz Bowl members placed first and second in the state, but the teams do not have the opportunity to compete in nationals.

The Dairy Foods team was comprised of Grayson Whitaker, Beau Jones, Bryden Laird, Dallas Killian and Skyler Oestreich. The Ag Issues team members are Katie Manke, Kate Schell, Holly Nygren and Dinah Gadberry.

Nelson competed in the Extemporaneous Speaking contest at the state level, and also ran for a state office. FFA members participating in FARM are BJ White, Andrew Witt, Dylan Bilodeaux and Heidi Hennings.

In the First Year Member contest, chapter members Raeann Hoeft, Morgan Shields, Michael Shields, Dusty Kulm and Damien Rouleau all competed.

The chapter now prepares to take three teams, consisting of 11 students, to the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Ind., this fall and earn another opportunity at a national title.